


Bittersweet

by orgaziam



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Anal Sex, Angst, Bottom Zayn, Bullying, First Time, Fluff, Kidnapping, Mentions of Death, Mentions of Suicide, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, More tags to be added, Multi, Murder, Murder Mystery, No Spoilers, Pining, Smut, Top Liam, Violence, but mostly ziam, mentions of depression, this fic focuses on both ziam and larry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-05-21 05:13:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 48,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14909018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orgaziam/pseuds/orgaziam
Summary: Liam knew that Louis’ scholarship depended on his play being successful, so it was a no-brainer when he and the rest of their friends agreed to help prepare for the big night. That’s how Zayn ended up in charge of set design, Harry in charge of the script, Niall as the lead actor, and Liam as the stage manager.Nothing prepared them for the mess that came the night of the play, and the last thing Liam expected was to leave the play being accused of murder.By his own best friend, might he add.





	1. Bella

**Author's Note:**

> This is all, believe it or not, based off of a dream i had the other night.

To say that Zayn’s been stressed lately is an understatement.

 

It’s not like he’s had much personal stuff going on lately. Things have been actually pretty manageable, now that it’s his senior year and he gets to slack off a little more. He’s already sent out his applications and taken his standardized exams. Now he’s just working on finallizing all of his last art projects before the year ends. That way, he can have one final year of peace before he has to deal with the stresses of college, maybe even get a job to help with paying for some of his expenses. He’s lucky enough to have gotten into the college of his dreams with a full tuition, where he plans on dual majoring in art and education, but he knows textbooks and meal plans are costly, and he’s got to pay for those somehow. Overall, things are going well for him, and he’s at peace with the pace that things are going at.

 

That is, until his friends practically forced him into going to their events, prying him away from the sanctuary he’s built for himself in the art room and into the worlds of sports, music, and theater. Respectively, of course.

 

That’s why he finds himself eating his lunch in one of the back rows of the auditorium the day of the school play, Liam overhead in the techbooth working on perfecting the lighting that emanates onto the stage, Harry coaching the leads in the play on how to make their voices sound loud and clear so that everyone in the auditorium will be able to hear them, and Louis practically spiralling out of control now that there’s only six hours until the play starts. 

 

Fighting off the sudden urge to roll his eyes at Louis’ antics, Zayn dips another carrot into his puddle of ranch and continues to scroll through his phone, uninterested in the commotion around him. He already did his part, Louis having made him in charge of the set design (against his will, might he add). The brown-haired lad was practically breathing down his neck while he was getting all of the pieces done, with the help of Liam since some of the wooden boards and steel rods he needed for the set were too much for him to carry and build together on his own. Louis’ constant pestering texts and phone calls inquiring about the state of the set pieces had him finishing the entire set in record time, taking him less than two days to get everything prepared and ready weeks in advance of the actual play.

 

The only reason he’s really here now, despite having an art project he was hoping to finish up while eating his lunch, is because Harry apparently needed someone to make sure that they could hear what was being said on stage from the back of the auditorium.

That, and moral support, he guesses.

 

One of the things that had Louis so on edge was that both of the mics had blown out just days before, and the school was unable to find their backup mics or reorder new ones just for the play. Liam tried his best to figure out what happened to the mics, but they ended up being unsalvageable. Now, Louis is concerned about whether or not the audience will be able to hear the actors on stage, having enlisted in Harry’s help to get everyone to project their voices more.

 

“Zayn! Can you hear me?” Harry practically yells for what seems to be the hundredth time that day, and Zayn lifts his free hand to give a quick thumbs up, not bothering to look up from the phone in his hand. He continues to scroll through his instagram feed when he suddenly sees someone slide into the aisle seat next to his. He doesn’t need to look over to see that it’s Liam.

He puts away his phone and smiles at the boy, offering him a baby carrot. Liam looks at the tray of cafeteria food and grimaces, shaking his head before politely saying, “no thanks. What are ya up to?”

 

Zayn snorts, “Clearly helping Harry make sure he’s loud enough, as if the guy doesn’t already have a boombox for vocal cords.”

 

Liam snickers, his eyes disappearing behind his cheeks as he turns towards the stage, Zayn following his gaze to where Harry is practically shouting Juliet’s lines. Louis is seated at the edge of the stage, feet hovering off of the edge as he talks to one of the actors about movements and stage presence. Niall is snacking on some pretzels in the corner while he waits for his turn to say his lines. Cindy, the girl Louis chose to play Juliet, is leaning over the balcony he and Liam built together, reciting the lines over and over while Harry makes wide and exuberant gestures with his arms. Zayn looks away from the stage and back at Liam, admiring the boy for a moment before he feels Zayn’s gaze and turns to give him a small smile.

 

He opens his mouth to ask about how Liam’s day is going, when suddenly a loud shrill echoes throughout the auditorium, followed by a crash. They look at each other briefly, eyes wide, before turning toward the stage where the sound originated, only to see a huge huddle gathered around where the makeshift balcony they built has collapsed, with Cindy, the lead of the play, laying on top of the mess.

 

Liam is on his feet in an instant, running toward the stage with Zayn on his tail, both worried.

 

“What’s going on?” Zayn asks, rushing to catch up. Everyone is circled around Cindy, as Harry and Niall help her out of the pile of broken wood and nails and onto her feet. She winces in pain, holding onto Niall’s shoulders to steady herself. Her right knee is slightly bent and she winces when she lands on it, telling Zayn she may have injured it in the fall.

 

Suddenly, Louis is right in front of the pair with a menacing expression, finger poking roughly into Zayn’s chest, “You tell me! You built this stupid thing, and now it’s collapsed!”

 

Zayn, shocked, opens his mouth to defend himself, but before any words actually come out, Liam comes to stand in front of him, separating the two effectively.

 

“This isn’t Zayn’s fault, Louis! I get you’re upset, but I helped him build this thing. It was working just fine during rehearsals. Calm the fuck down.”

 

Zayn is momentarily surprised by Liam’s outburst, but he finds himself nodding along anyway. Liam has always been the one in their friend group to put Louis in his place, always the protective and overbearingly serious one, but he means well. The two of them clash sometimes, but they have a bond like no other, having known each other the longest and spending the most time together during soccer season and theatre plays. Liam’s always been the most understanding of them all, never raises his voice at any of them, never argues against their judgements or actions. Louis’ the more loud one of the group, always pushing their boundaries and pestering them to go out of their comfort zones, but lately he’s been overwhelmingly annoying due to the stress of his play, constantly pestering them and being unreasonably rude. Zayn gets how stressful this may be for him, because Louis’ theater scholarship practically depends on this play running smoothly, and it’s a lot of work to run an entire play without even a school sponsor, but Zayn has never seen Liam this angry before, and he imagines his anger reflects the irritation that’s built up over the last few weeks of aiding Louis with the set designing and stage managing of this play. The two have never argued though, despite having been best friends for years, and Zayn feels a little guilty about this being his fault.

 

Everyone else seems shocked, as well. Niall is still supporting Cindy’s weight, but the two are looking at Louis and Liam with wide eyes. The rest of the actors and stage crew have also stopped what they were doing and are watching on nervously. Even Harry, always hesitant to be involved in tense situations, has stepped up to the pair and is watching with wide eyes. Zayn hesitantly reaches up to lay a hand on Liam’s arm, slightly tugging him back into Zayn’s space as a way to calm the other boy down a bit and get him to step away from Louis. It works a little, as he can visibly see Liam deflate a little and let out the breath he was holding, but he still keeps his firm stance in front of Louis.

 

“My play is on in less than 8 hours, Liam! How the fuck do you think you can do everything else and fix this mess of a balcony? Have you ever seen a Romeo and Juliet play without a fucking balcony?” Louis sneers, poking his finger roughly into the boy’s chest, and Zayn can practically feel the anger radiating off of the boy. Liam, however, doesn’t back down.

 

“All of the screws were in place when we made it, and we made sure it could support my dad’s weight. If he could stand on it just fine and move about, there’s no reason it shouldn’t have supported Cindy,” he says, narrowing his eyes at Louis. “What happened was an accident, we can fix it and Cindy won’t fall from it again. Calm the fuck down,” Liam says firmly, slapping Louis’ finger off of him.

 

“Uhm, guys?” A tentative voice breaks the tension from the air, and even Louis and Liam break off their intense stares to look over at Cindy, who is still being held up Niall. “I don’t think I can do the play. My leg hurts and I can barely stand.”

 

“What do you mean you can’t do the fucking play?” Louis says, narrowing his eyes.

 

“Louis!” Liam snaps, “Can’t you see she just fucking fell off of that thing? She’s injured and you can’t even put your own selfishness aside to accomodate her-“

“-Well maybe if you didn’t make such a crappy excuse for a balcony, she wouldn’t have injured herself to begin with!”

“There was nothing wrong with the balcony! Everything was fine with it until today! We had nothing to do with this-“

“-you two built it Liam! Of course you fucking did-“

 

“Shut the fuck up!”

 

Everyone looks at Harry, surprised by the outburst. He shakes his head and points at Louis, “you have an understudy for Cindy. Find her and I’ll make sure she knows her lines.” He points to Niall, “you, take Cindy to the nurse’s office, tell her what happened, and come back here. We still need you to practice until next block.” He looks at Liam and Zayn and pauses, then asks hesitantly, “How long after school do you think it’ll take for you guys to build a new one?”

 

Liam shakes his head. “I’m not building a new one. Fuck that, he can build it himself since he thinks it’s so fucking easy,” he says, eyeing Louis with a glare.

 

Zayn looks back and forth between the two of them before he sighs and steps in front of Liam to interject before Louis can pounce on him. “I was planning on skipping my last two classes anyway to finish my art portfolio,” he says as calmly as he can. “I can have it done by six, unless Liam wants to help. Then we can have it done earlier, probably around four.” He turns around and looks at Liam, who looks up from where he was glaring at the floor. He gives Liam a little pout, mouthing the word “please?” and raising his eyebrows questioningly.

 

Liam sighs, “Fine. I’ll help, but only for you. Not for him,” he says, pointedly glaring at Louis. Zayn rolls his eyes at Liam’s immaturity, but takes it as a win.

 

“Good,” Harry says, letting out a breath. “Are we all good now?” He asks, looking pointedly between Louis and Liam. Liam has calmed down a little, Zayn’s hand still resting on his forearm calming him down and keeping him grounded. Louis is still fuming next to him on the stage, but Zayn’s sure his anger will dissipate soon. He still has a lot to be worried about by the time the play comes around, and Zayn’s sure that there will be more for him to be concerned about throughout the day.

 

The tension remains throughout the air for the rest of the fourty-five minute lunch period, but the second Niall comes back and Cindy’s understudy, a junior named Bella, has joined them for practice, everyone is back to their previous work. Instead of taking his seat in the back of the auditorium, however, Zayn follows Liam up to the techbooth and away from everyone else. They climb up the stairs and into the small, elevated room with all of the lighting and sound controls and Zayn closes the door behind himself. He’s only been up here one other time with a few other students, never alone. There’s a few seats near the front of the small space where the controls are, with a large window that looks out onto the stage and auditorium seats. There’s a small couch in the back, one that Liam jumps on with a little grunt, laying face first into the cushions. Zayn smiles a little and goes to sit on the arm rest of the chair, running his fingers through the short curly locks on Liam’s head. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t want to push, just waits for Liam to start venting.

 

Liam sighs, slightly leaning back into Zayn’s hand in his hair, before turning so his cheek is resting on the couch and he can look at Zayn with a pout.

 

Zayn gives him a small little smile, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “You okay now?” He asks.

 

Liam grunts, closing his eyes tightly before opening them again, “I just-“ is all he says. Zayn waits for him to continue, but after a few moments of silence he realizes Liam doesn’t have anything more to add. Weirdly enough, he understands.

 

Zayn lets out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding, before he says, “I know. You don’t need to say anything more.”

 

They spend the rest of their lunch like that, just enjoying the quiet little break they have before the stressful storm that’s soon to come.

 

.

 

The play starts in less than ten minutes.

 

Louis is stressed, he’s nervous as shit, and he’s scared.

 

But none of that comes close to how fucking pissed off he is right now.

 

“What the fuck do you mean you can’t find her?” He asks Harry, who looks like a frightened deer caught in head lights.

 

“I-I uhm,” he stutters, before collecting himself, “I knocked on her dressing room door to see if she wanted to go over her lines again like she asked. She said she still needed help with projecting her emotions and all of that. She didn’t answer so I knocked again, and when I didn’t get a response I opened the door and the room was empty. I’ve asked everyone if they’ve seen her and no one’s seen her all night. I’ve texted her multiple times and haven’t gotten a response.”

 

Louis is at a loss for words. Anger thrums through his veins, his lips pressing together thinly in spite. He closes his eyes for a moment, his hands uncurling from their tight fists before he presses his fingers into his temples, willing away the headache that’s overcoming his body.

 

“Where the fuck is she?” He grunts out through his teeth, eyes still pressed tightly together. This is the worst thing that could happen to him on the one night that he needs things to go right. He’s spent months preparing for this play. His entire school is here, his family is here, and his scholarship scouts are here, all waiting to watch the play that he put together. The same play that currently is missing a Juliet, because not only is the lead actress injured and unable to perform, but his fucking understudy is now missing.

 

Someone’s gotta be fucking with him.

 

“I-uhm, I don’t know, Louis. I’m so sorry. What can I do? There has to be something I can do,” Harry says frantically, and Louis forces his anger down as he tries to figure something out. He needs to have a live performance ready in eight minutes, and he’s nowhere near ready, but now is not the time for him to throw a fit. He needs to get it together and figure out something. Anything.

 

_There has to be something he can do._

 

Then it hits him.

 

“Harry, you’re a fucking genius!” Louis says, jumping up in glee at his sudden idea. Harry looks at him with a raised eyebrow, suddenly confused.

 

“I-you’re welcome?” He says, but before he can do anything Louis is grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the auditorium and down the hall towards the classrooms they’ve turned into makeshift dressing rooms for the actors.

 

He stops in front of what was supposed to be Bella’s dressing room and opens the door, shoving himself and Harry inside. He shoves Harry into the seat in front of the vanity, stepping up behind him and smiling almost maniacally at Harry’s reflection.

 

“Uh, Louis?” He asks hesitantly. “What’s going on?” 

 

“Harry,” he says, voice waivering as he visibly tries to contain his excitement. “You know all of the lines, right? You helped both Cindy and Bella memorize them, right?”

 

“Well, yeah, of course,” he says.

 

“Perfect! Then you’re our new Juliet!” He says, then pauses. “Or should I say Julian? God, that’s perfect!” He says, more to himself than to Harry.

 

“Wait, what?” Harry asks, turning around in his chair to face Louis. “Louis, I can’t-“

 

“Harry, please! The play starts in like five minutes. Everything depends on this, and I have no other choice,” he pleads, eyeing Harry’s reflection, “Think of it like this. Everyone’s seen Romeo and Juliet, but no one has seen Romeo and Julian, it’ll be a breakthrough in theatre!”

 

Harry still looks doubtful, but Louis says, “Please Harry. This means the world to me, and my future depends on this one night. I know you’ll do perfect and I will forever repay you for this favor.” He looks at Harry hesitantly, and Harry sighs.

 

“Fine. I’ll do it, as long as Niall’s okay with it,” he says. “I’ll do it for you,” he adds a little quieter, not meaning for Louis to hear it, but Louis does anyway and bounces up and down in glee.

 

“Perfect! I’ll go tell Niall and get everything ready. God, I love you so much, Harry!” He says, leaning forward to kiss Harry’s cheek before he’s bouncing out of the room. Harry’s eyes widen in shock at the press of lips against his cheek, his hand coming to rest on the skin in a daze before he’s snapping himself out of it and getting ready. He has only a few minutes before he needs to be on stage. He can worry about his little crush later.

 

.

 

“I have to kiss Harry? And you’re okay with that?” Is all Niall asks Louis before he’s shrugging and agreeing to go along with everything.

 

Louis just shoves him aside and mentally prepares himself to go on the stage. Everything will be fine. He’s got his Romeo, he’s got his Juliet. The set has been fixed, the lights are ready, the mics are working again, everyone he needs is here. _Everything is going to be fine_ , he tries to convince himself. Everything _is_ fine.

 

He steps out onto the stage, straightening his posture and forcing a smile onto his face as he addresses the crowd. His family and classmates cheer for him the second he’s up there, slightly helping to ease his nerves, but he can still feel himself sweating as he welcomes everyone to the play. Liam directs for all of stage lights to be dimmed, all except for one of the bigger spotlights that shines directly over where Louis is standing, giving him his cue to speak.

 

“You’ve all heard of Romeo and Juliet. In fact, we all know the story by now, and that’s why tonight’s story is going to be a little different.”

 

He pauses for dramatic effect, getting a few curious looks from the audience members. He’s well aware that the posters they put up around the school and pamphlets they gave out to the audience has “Romeo and Juliet” written on it, hence the confusion amongst the audience members, but he continues.

 

“Instead of hearing the story of Romeo and Juliet, tonight you all will hear about the forbidden love of Romeo and _Julian_.” He smiles as a few audience members gasp or looked shocked. Others nod approvingly or just look curious, but he’s satisfied with the reaction he’s given. Negative attention is attention, afterall, and he loves attention. He chances a glance at the front row where the scouts for his scholarship program are sitting, hoping to gauge their expressions, but their expressions are hard to read. He mentally sighs before continuing.

 

“I hope you all enjoy the play, and without further ado,” he lifts his hand and gives Liam the signal to open up the curtains to reveal the set behind him. He smiles at the audience and awaits their response, but his smile slowly falls when some of the audience members start screaming or gasping. Confused by their reaction, Louis looks up at the techbooth where Liam and Zayn are, barely able to see them but noticing they looked shocked, as well. Some people are still screaming, some standing in their seats and others rushing to leave the auditorium.

 

“Louis, get off the stage, now!” Harry yells from the side stage, and Louis turns to him, confused. He doesn’t listen to Harry, instead looks behind him at what had everyone so shocked.

 

Suddenly, he feels like he’s going to throw up.

 

This has got to be a fucking joke, he thinks.

 

There, in the middle of the stage, nailed to the balcony that Zayn and Liam rebuilt earlier that day, is Bella’s body, clearly unconscious and plastered with deep thrashes and bruises from her neck down. There’s a large, deep cut down the side of her neck, gushing blood all over the stage, and next to her are the words “you’re next” smeared onto the wood with her blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?


	2. Calum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pinky promises and kidnappings, what a wonderful pair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I decided to set this fic in the US because I’m more familiar with the school system here. I just wanted to make that clear in case any of you didn’t realize from the previous chapter.
> 
> Also, you definitely won’t like Louis, at least in the beginning, but that may (or may not) change.

“That could’ve been me.”

Liam looks over at the seat Cindy’s occupying on the couch, leg elevated onto the table per doctor’s orders. His eyes can barely stay open after the past two sleepless nights. He rarely cries, but his eyes are practically dry from the amount of tears he’s shed since the night of the play. Zayn’s hand rubs small circles on his back, his own eyes threatening to spill tears. They’re both scared, having dealt with everything from interrogations and interviews by the police department and multiple news broacasters, to PTSD from the disturbing incident.

Zayn leans his head over to rest it on Liam’s shoulder, hiding his face in the crook of Liam’s neck. Liam doesn’t feel any tears falling over his skin, but he can tell Zayn’s crying by the way his shoulders are shaking in an attempt to contain his sobs. He wraps his arm around Zayn’s shoulders, pulling the boy further into himself to fulfill his own need for comfort.

They’ve been able to find solace within each other’s presence the past two days, the only ones who understand each other. They know they’re both innocent, but the way Louis pointed his fingers at them the second the police showed up to their high school after everyone was removed from the crime scene, wrongfully accusing them of having been involved with Bella’s grotesque death, just reflected what everyone else had been thinking at the moment.

 

_“It was them! It had to have been! They built the stupid balcony and it collapsed the first time. When I asked them to rebuild it Liam didn’t want to! He clearly wanted to ruin my one chance at this fucking scholarship from the beginning! Who else would’ve done this?” Louis had shouted at the officers questioning him._

_Zayn had looked at Liam, wide eyed and concerned. Liam felt his own heart break at the words his own friend was saying about him. Despite their argument hours before the play, Liam was nothing but proud of Louis and helpful to him throughout the process of organizing it. Their argument was simply fueled by tiny annoyances and Louis’ initial blame on him and Zayn building an unstable balcony, when they tested it out prior to the day of the play and everything was perfectly in order._

_His own dad was the sheriff, and he knows by now in situations like these to use his right to remain silent until he has a good lawyer, but he knows he had nothing to do with this. He had told the police officers the same thing, Zayn nodding along and giving Liam an alibi._

_“He’s been with me all day, officers. We went to the hardware store immediately after school and came back here to rebuild the set after it collapsed. Some of Liam’s other friends helped us, they can vouch for us, too,” he tells the officer. “After that we came straight back here to finish setting up.”_

_Louis, overhearing this, scoffs, “Of course you would defend Liam, of all people to give him an alibi! You could be lying-“_

_“-Louis! Shut up,” Harry hisses, still dressed in his Juliet costume. He looks a mess, face distraught and stage makeup now melting off under the harsh lights of the cop cars and the humid weather, tear tracks staining his cheeks from the initial shock of the incident. He shoves Louis away from where the officers are interrogating Liam and Zayn, haughtily telling him things Zayn can no longer hear. Zayn directs his attention back to the conversation between the officer and Liam, who is now asking Liam for the names of the people who assisted them in rebuilding the balcony._

_“Ashton and Jared,” he says, “I asked Ashton to help because some of the pieces were heavy and we needed to get it done fast, and Jared offered to come help as well.”_

_The officer nods, writing down the names and continuing with his interrogation questions, Liam answering them all honestly and Zayn occasionally interjecting with his own comments.  
_

 

Despite Louis’ accusations towards Liam and Zayn being responsible, everyone else was oddly hesitant to believe it. Having known one another their entire lives, they knew that pointing fingers at one another was not the best way to go, especially at such a frightening and stressful time.

 

“Don’t say that,” Niall says, shaking his head in response to Cindy’s words. “You don’t know what that person’s motives for doing that to Bella were. You don’t know what their relationship to one another was.”

 

“And that makes it okay?” Ashton interjects angrily from where he’s seated on the floor near the television, tossing his car keys between his hands. “I don’t care if she was that person’s fucking drug dealer, or if she killed someone’s dog. Bella was someone’s friend, she was someone’s family. She was a person with a life and dreams and a future. The person who did that is fucking psycho. And ‘you’re next?’ What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

 

_“Liam?” Zayn asks quietly from where his head is laying on Liam’s lap on his couch._

_Trisha refused to let Zayn out of her sight since the incident. Luckily, it took place on a Friday night, because there was no way anyone would have willingly let their kids walk right back into that school the day after a murder like that. Liam’s own dad Geoff and mother Karen were hesitant to let Liam go over to Zayn’s house, wanting to keep Liam safe from any impending dangers outside, but one look at Liam’s dejected face had Geoff hesitantly agreeing to let the boy go to his best friend’s house._

_Upon arriving, Trisha had asked that they stay downstairs where she could still be aware of their presence. Not ones to argue, Zayn and Liam decided to stay in the living room, the television playing a show neither of them were watching but filling the silent void they felt. Trisha stumbled around the kitchen, making them two mugs of coffee to help with the lack of sleep they got the night prior, and left them to their privacy._

_“Yeah Zed?” He asks, brushing some of the longer hairs out of Zayn’s face to look at him clearly, but it was a struggle since there were tears close to falling from his eyes. Zayn’s own eyes were wet with tears, unsuccessfully blinking them away._

_“I know it wasn’t you. They will too, okay?” Is all he said. Liam sniffed into the sleeve of his shirt to hold back a sob at the words, nodding his head and giving Zayn a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Zayn lifted his hand and curled it into a fist, sticking his pinky finger out for Liam to wrap his own around. Liam gave a genuine snort before doing so, and Zayn let out his own quiet laugh._

_It was a thing they did since they had first met when they were kids, an unbreakable promise between the two of them. What started off as just a tiny promise to meet up during recess or to share their school lunches developed into something much more meaningful. It was a sign that they were there for each other, always would be, and Liam loved it._

_Liam loved _him_._

__

Harry looks over at Liam, who still has his arms wrapped around Zayn, the two of them holding back tears. They all decided to meet up at Liam’s house before the sheriff would return from work, letting them know what they’ve found in their investigation. The three of them, along with Cindy, Niall, and Ashton, have been sitting around for what feels like hours just trying to come to terms with the reality that someone at their own school was murdered. All of them but Louis, of course.

 

_  
“No way, Haz. I’m not going to that fucking murderer’s house, and you shouldn’t either!” Louis argued, after Harry had knocked on the boy’s door and offered to give him a ride to where the group was meeting._

_Harry glared at him, squinting his eyes in annoyance. “You truly think Liam did this? Our sweet, innocent Liam? Who was WITH ZAYN the entire time? Who has multiple alibis, who literally has no motive for killing Bella? Who has no motive for sabotaging your play? You would really think that of your own best friends?” He asked._

_Louis faltered slightly, but regained his composure almost immediately, “I’m not leaving this damned house, Harry. Not after being threatened at my own school play, and especially not to go to the home of the one person who I know had some involvement in this.”_

_And with that he had shoved Harry out of his home, closing the door behind him, making Harry feel oldly cold despite the warm afternoon air._

__

 

Just then the door opens, Liam’s dad Geoff walking through the door still clad in his sheriff uniform. He places his keys on the table near the door before walking into the living room, greeted by six pairs of eyes. Liam anxiously stands to his feet, pulling Zayn up with him, who unwraps his arms from around Liam but is still shaking into Liam’s chest.

 

“Well?” He asks, instinctly pulling his free hand that isn’t wrapped around Zayn to his mouth, biting nervously at his nails, a habit he thought he had overcome years ago but hasn’t left him the past couple of days.

 

Liam’s dad sighs, going over to the arm chair in the corner near the door and sitting down, resting his head in his hands. He rubs his face for a moment before he sighs and looks up, finally addressing the group’s concerns.

 

“We ran a few tests. There’s some good news and bad news.”

 

“Good news first,” Liam insists. Zayn pries his face away from Liam’s body and wipes at his eyes looking hopefully at the sheriff and waiting for him to continue.

 

The rest of the group nod along. They haven’t heard much good news in the past couple of days. It’s a good way to start.

 

“Well,” the sherriff starts, biting his lip. “The coroner looked at the body. What happened to Bella happened at approximately 3:00 pm, which is right before the time on you and Zayn’s receipt from the hardware store. They don’t believe it was you two who killed her.”

 

“Oh thank God,” Liam mutters, he and Zayn both letting out huge breaths they didn’t realize they were holding.

 

“What’s the bad news?” Niall asks hesitantly.

 

Geoff bites his lip again, before sighing and eyeing the floor as he speaks, “The bad news is the nails that were used to hold Bella up to the balcony are the same ones you guys used to build it. They matched up perfectly. They want to run some DNA tests on you two and see if it matches up with the DNA found on the nails that were keeping her up. You guys,” he hesitates, looking up to eye Liam and Zayn, “you guys are still suspects.”

 

“What?!” Liam says, slapping his palm on the coffee table in front of him, causing everyone to jump as he rises to his feet again. “That’s bullshit, we had proof we didn’t kill her! You said they didn’t think we did.”

 

“Liam-“

 

“-No, Dad. Tell them it wasn’t us. I’ll take a stupid DNA test, whatever, but of course the nails could have our DNA on it! We built the balcony, so if whoever did this used those same nails to hang her up, then of course our DNA will be on them!” He groans in frustration, fighting the urge to kick the coffee table over.

 

“Liam, calm down,” Zayn urges, wrapping his hand around Liam’s arm to pull him back down to his seat, but Liam shrugs him off. He hates the look of sadness it puts on Zayn’s face, but wills himself to brush it off.

 

“Liam, son, the nails from the balcony were all in place. The balcony wasn’t missing any of it’s nails. The nails holding up the girl, Bella, were additional ones that happened to be the same type you guys used, but they weren’t taken out of the balcony’s set up. Does that make sense?” Geoff asks.

 

“Well,” Harry pipes up, “What about the first balcony?”

 

“What first balcony?” Geoff asks, eyeing the group curiously.

 

“The one that fell during our lunch rehearsal,” Cindy said. “The one that left me with an injured leg.”

 

“Yeah,” Harry says. “What if the person who did this was the same one who made the first balcony collapse? The person who did this would have to have been someone who didn’t want the play to continue.”

 

Geoff eyed him curiously, but didn’t disagree, “but who would not want the play to go on? Is there anyone who doesn’t like Louis? Anyone who maybe tried out for the play and didn’t get the part? Anyone who had a reason to resent Bella?”

 

“Or just anyone else who could be a fucking suspect but me,” Liam muttered as he sat back down in his seat, but no one heard him except Zayn, who gives him a dejected look.

 

They look around at each other, until finally Zayn says, “Guys.”

 

They all turn to him, and he continues, “the first balcony collapsed, right? We know it did. But do we know why?”

 

Liam eyes him curiously, “Why someone would make it collapse?” He asks, trying to follow along.

 

“No, as in why it would collapse.” He says, sitting up straighter. “As in, what was up with the balcony that made it fall?”

 

“I thought it wasn’t sturdy enough? That’s what Louis said,” Niall interjects, unsure as to where Zayn is going with this.

 

Geoff scoffs, “There’s no way. I remember testing it out with you guys weeks ago. If my big ole self could jump around on that thing just fine, there’s no way it should’ve fallen.”

 

Cindy nods along, “He’s right. I’ve stood up there for hours a day and it was just fine. Niall, you’ve even climbed up onto the edge while I was standing on it. There’s no way it wasn’t stable enough.”

 

“Unless it was tampered with,” Liam says, finally catching onto where Zayn was going with his theory.

 

Zayn nods, biting his lip, “Unless someone took the nails out to make it collapse, then later used them to hang Bella up to the new one.”

 

“Fucking genius,” Liam mutters, eyeing Zayn admirably. Zayn blushes.

 

“But who would do that?” Ashton asked, sitting up curiously.

 

“Someone who wanted to redirect the blame towards someone else. Someone who knew you guys would have to rebuild it and that Liam could be a prime suspect,“ Geoff says, before standing up and addressing the group as a whole. “God, we’ve been working on this case since yesterday morning and this is the biggest breakthrough we’ve had with it.”

 

“Happy to be your little detectives, sir,” Niall jokes, attempting to lighten the air as he gives the sheriff a little salute. “Now where’s our portion of the paycheck?” Geoff gives a tiny scoff, but smiles nonetheless.

 

“Dad, that’s just it,” Liam says, standing up and walking over to his dad. “You can let them know that that’s how the murder must have happened. That that’s how the nails match up!”

 

Geoff bites his lip, eyes flickering at everyone’s hopeful faces before he stares back at Liam sadly. Liam deflates a little, before asking, “What? What’s wrong?”

 

“Liam, I-“ he pauses, “Liam, I got kicked off of the case.”

 

“What?! But dad, you’re the sheriff!” 

 

Geoff sighs, “I know, Liam. But you’re my son, and you’re a suspect right now. That makes it a conflict of interest for me to be on this case. Which means someone else is going to be handling it.”

 

“Who’s on the case now, then, if it’s not you?” Liam asks, already fearing the answer.

 

“Mark is, Liam,” he says, and he hears a few of the others in the room gasp quietly. “Louis’ father.”

 

.

 

“Louis, just hear me out, okay?” Harry pleads into the phone, pacing back and forth around his room before finally deciding to lean against the desk in his bedroom.

 

“Harry, I will not hesitate to hang up on you again. I’ve done it four times already, I can do it again, now stop calling me,” he hears Louis grit through the phone.

 

“Louis, wait for fuck’s sake. It wasn’t Liam, okay? I _know_ it wasn’t!” He says. There’s no sound coming from the other end of the line, and Harry almost believes Louis has hung up on him again before he hears a quiet, “how do you know?”

 

“Louis,” he sighs, “I just know, okay? Fuck, you should’ve seen he and Zayn today, they looked so sad and guilty-“

 

“-It’s because they are guilty!” Louis yells into the phone, causing Harry to wince and distance the phone from his ear. He instead places it on the desk next to him, turning on speaker and continuing his pacing.

 

“You know what I mean, Louis. They looked so distraught and so,” he pauses, trying to think of a good description. “Broken,” he decides on, before sighing once again. “Louis, they didn’t do it. They didn’t sabotage your play by taking out the nails. Whoever did that was the same person who killed Bella, but it was not Liam and Zayn who did that. You need to believe that.”

 

There’s another long pause before Louis speaks up again, “Harry, do you really think I want Liam and Zayn to be guilty? Do you really think I want to believe that my own friends would do this on the single most important night of my life? Do you really think I want to believe that?” Harry barely stops himself from muttering a petty response before Louis is continuing, “I don’t want to believe it’s them, but my dad says all of the evidence thus far points to them. Sure they have alibis, but there’s no other suspects.”

 

“Louis,” Harry says, pinching the bridge of his nose, “You do realize that Liam and Zayn are only considered suspects in this case because you accused them of doing it? Or do you not remember throwing your own friends under the bus that night?”

 

He doesn’t get a response from Louis other than a “fuck you, Styles,” before the line cuts dead. This time, Harry doesn’t bother to call him back. He’s said what he’s needed to say.

 

.

 

The following Monday, the school was practically empty.

 

Zayn and his sister Waliyha were barely able to convince their parents to allow them to attend school, but Zayn had his art portfolio due and Waliyha had an exam study group to attend. As much as Trisha wanted to keep them away from the school, she had to let them go, trusting that the school would do their best to keep everyone safe after the impending threat that came with Bella’s murder. Anyone could be next, and it was just about time before the next person would go missing.

 

But half of the school’s student body hadn’t even showed up that day, no doubt scared of what could happen. When Zayn pulls up to the school, he notices multiple cop cars lined up in front of it, Liam’s dad having arranged for a team of officers to protect the students while they were in class. Upon walking inside the building, they were prompted for bag checks, and Zayn and Waliyha willingly handed theirs over, having nothing suspicious to hide. One of the officers patted him down before signalling that he was good to go. He nodded at his sister and she reciprocated with her own nod, signalling that she was okay to go on her own.

 

Zayn headed in the direction of his locker, noticing a couple more officers patrolling the hallways. There were less students bustling about then usual, which was strange considering the hallways were usually packed at this time before classes officially started.

 

Upon arriving at the hallway where his locker was located, he noticed Liam standing there waiting for him with his bookbag slung over one shoulder, his other hand drumming a beat over the metal locker door next to Zayn’s. No one else was around, Zayn noticed, before jogging toward Liam and embracing him in a hug.

 

“How are you feeling?” He asked, biting his lip nervously as he looked up at Liam and pulled away to see his face. 

 

Liam gave him a small smile, “As well as any criminal suspect could feel. You?”

 

Zayn nodded, chewing nervously on his lower lip. Liam’s eyes followed the movement, his hand rubbing Zayn’s arm to release some of the tension in the shorter boy’s body.

 

“I’m okay, I guess. I should’ve expected it to be this empty,” he said, nodding his head towards the empty hallway. Liam nods along, sighing as they hear the bell signaling for class to begin.

 

“Let’s go. Maybe if we’re lucky enough, people won’t show up and we’ll have a free period,” Liam says, leading Zayn in the direction of the History classroom where they share their first class together.

 

Zayn sighs, before looking at Liam with an unreadable expression. Liam raises an eyebrow, prompting him to voice his thoughts.

“I don’t know, I guess I was kinda hoping for a distraction. Almost wished we could come back and pretend things were normal again.”

 

And yeah, Liam gets that, having woken up that morning for the third night in a row wishing it was just a nightmare, and that he could walk back into the school and go about his day like normal. Instead, his dad had offered him a ride to school in his cop car, explaining that he and his team would be patrolling the school grounds in case of a threat. That, paired with the nasty stares that he and Zayn got from the few people they passed on the way to their first block was enough to show Liam that no, this was worse than a nightmare.

This was now his reality.

 

.

 

“Have you guys seen Calum?” Louis asks the table of friends as he takes a seat during lunch. Niall, Cindy, and Harry all look up at him, surprised.

 

Harry gawks at him, half indignant due to the audacity Louis has to show his face after their heated conversation the night before, half shocked that Louis is so calm after everything that’s happened.

 

“In case you haven’t noticed,” Niall says, barely swallowing his food before he talks again, “Half of this school isn’t here today.”

 

Louis rolls his eyes, “Well, my bad for wanting to make plans to practice before soccer tryouts next week.”

 

“Fucking-are you serious mate?” Harry says, dropping the apple he was holding back onto his lunch tray. “After everything that happened? After someone died at your school play? After accusing your own best friends of murder, you’re more worried about soccer tryouts?”

 

Louis responds to Harry with a deadly glare, crossing his arms over his chest before he stands over Harry and says, “You think I’m just gonna sit around and let this murderer go around and fuck up my life? You really think I’m just gonna sit around and mourn forever? I already lost my chance at that fucking theater scholarship, you’re mad if you think any other college will accept me for performing arts after that incident was plastered on _national television_ , might I remind you. Soccer is all I have left, and you’re mad if you think I’m gonna sit around doing nothing when I could get back on my feet and have another chance at getting into a good college.”

 

“Your own best friend needs you right now and you want to be a selfish little bitch? Fine,” Harry says, shocking Niall and Cindy who are seated at the table and watching the argument go on. He stands up so he’s looming over Louis.

 

“What’s going on?” He hears Liam ask, approaching the table with Zayn in tow. They both look hesitant to get involved, clearly noticing the tension in the air between Harry and Louis, especially after the crazy allegations Louis has made about them. Harry ignores them and continues.

 

“You don’t intimidate me, Tomlinson. But you know what? You scare me. I hope you find Calum, and I hope you’re happy with who you’ve become. Because there may be a murderer on the loose, but you’re the fucking monster,” he says. And with that he picks up his apple and stalks off, leaving Louis glaring at his retreating back. He looks at the now table of four staring back at him and debates yelling at them, but decides against it, instead retreating off to find Calum.

 

“Why were they fighting?” Zayn asks after Louis’ retreated, taking the empty seat next to Cindy, who looks at Niall and shrugs.

 

“Louis was looking for Calum to practice some soccer, Harry threw a fit,” he says.

 

“Rightfully so,” Cindy says. “That fucker deserved to hear what Harry said. The nerve of that one.”

 

“He’s not here,” Liam says, gathering the attention of the other three.

 

“What do you mean?” Cindy asks curiously.

 

“Calum, he’s not here,” he says, clearing his throat before continuing. Niall raises his chin, eyeing Liam suspiciously, “How do you know?”

 

Liam furrows his eyebrows together, lips curling into a frown, “Because he wasn’t in Lit or History this morning.”

 

Zayn nods, “Yeah, I have art with him and now that I think about it, he wasn’t in there either. It was just me and three other students.”

 

“I don’t blame him,” Cindy says, looking around at the mostly-deserted cafeteria. “If I didn’t have that music history test today I wouldn’t have shown up. I don’t think anyone else is happy to be here either.”

 

Sure enough, there’s an almost eerie silence looming over the cafeteria today. Everyone is for the most part quiet, sitting in small groups and eating their food, rather than bustling about energetically and chatting over one another as is typical during their lunch period. Half of the tables are empty, and there are two officers standing on either sides of the open space eyeing the students cautiously. It’s freakishly scary, and Zayn finds himself curling back into his seat when he notices multiple people eyeing he and Liam suspiciously.

 

He has little hope that he’ll be able to get through the rest of the day as easily as he would like.

 

.

 

Calum isn’t officially ruled a missing person until the following Wednesday, over 72 hours after he was last seen.

 

“He and I got food together Sunday night,” Ashton told them that day during lunch. They all met in the choir room, thanks to Harry having the teacher’s spare key, giving them a safe space away from any prying ears. “His mom got home late from work and asked him to grab them some food. He said he was scared to go alone so I offered to go on my way back from Liam’s. That was the last I saw of him.”

“Did he mention why he was scared?” Harry asks, to which Ashton just shakes his head and mutters a “I didn’t ask. Figured it was just from the play.”

 

“God, what is happening,” Niall mutters, taking a seat on one of the piano benches in the room. Cindy sits down next to him, wincing slightly at the pain it causes her leg, before rubbing her hand soothingly up Niall’s arm.

 

“First Bella, now Calum?” Zayn asks, looking over at Liam who’s biting his lip nervously.

 

“Guys,” Harry says, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Bella was the understudy for Louis’ play. Louis was looking for Calum Monday morning to practice soccer. Both of these connect back to Louis.”

 

“Are you saying Louis’ responsible?” Ashton asks, confused.

 

Harry shakes his head, “Of course not. Louis is a drama queen, but he’d never do either of those things.” He pauses, looking pointedly at everyone in the room. “But what if this person is trying to get at Louis by getting to the people he needs most?”

 

“Then,” Zayn says quietly, “Wouldn’t that put us all at risk, too? If that’s true? Aren’t we all friends with Louis?”

 

Liam scoffs, “And you think I still consider myself friends with someone who accused me, and you, might I remind you, of trying to sabotage him and commiting murder?”

 

“Who cares about the specifics, though, Liam?” Harry says. “Zayn’s right. If this person is trying to get to Louis, that puts us at risk, too. Bella wasn’t necessarily Louis’ friend, but to the eyes of everyone else in this school, she was. And you know what they think of us, too? They think we’re his friends, too. And regardless of whatever shit he’s going through right now, I still do consider myself his friend, whether you all agree or not,” he looks directly at everyone when he says that. “And regardless, two of us are being accused of murder,” he looks at Liam and Zayn specifically, “and one of our own mates is currently missing, and possibly dead. If we can figure out who the fuck is doing this, and why they’re doing it, we can save so many more people. There’s other lives at risk, no matter what your personal feelings towards Louis are.”

Zayn looks at Liam, who is eyeing the floor and refusing to look up. “He’s right Liam. What if it were you? Or Harry who’s life was at risk? Or Niall or Ashton or Cindy? What if it were me?”

 

At that, Liam looks up and gives Zayn a conflicted expression, before saying, “okay.”

 

“Okay?” Zayn asks, taking a step closer to Liam.

 

Liam nods, exhaling shakily. “Okay. We’ll find whoever is doing this.”

 

“Thatta boy, Leemo,” Niall pipes up, walking over and pulling the boy into a firm hug. Cindy, Harry and Ashton all follow, and Zayn somehow ends up in the middle of the now group hug as well. 

 

Amidst the group of bodies huddled together, Liam feels something wrap itself around his pinky finger, and he doesn’t have to look to see that it’s Zayn’s finger wrapped around his own.

 

They can do this. He’ll do this.

 

For Zayn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would love to know you all think of this so far!  
> Also, I’m not sure if this will be exactly ten chapters. It could end up being more or less, but I’ve put ten for now just to set a nice goal for myself. I already have an outline for everything written, and a couple more chapters written, but I’m super impatient and always want to share my chapters with everyone immediately, so those chapters will be added pretty soon!  
> Let me know if you guys have any theories yet, I’d love to read them!


	3. Ethan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Un beta’d and written at 3 am so please be nice to me tysm

“But Dad, maybe if I just take a look at them-“

 

“-Louis. We’ve talked about this already and I will not tell you again. You stay away from those files, do you hear me?”

 

“But, Dad!” Louis whines, following his father from the kitchen into the living room. He plops down in the loveseat across from his dad’s armchair, folding his arms like a petulant little child trying to get his way, “I just want to see the details. I talked to Calum the day he went missing, and maybe I could help-“

 

“Louis, are you forgetting that this all started Friday night at _your_ play? You do realize that you have ties to both of these incidents, and that not only is allowing you to look at these files against the law, but you could easily be considered a suspect or charged for tampering with evidence if you do one thing wrong?” Louis falters slightly at his father’s stern words, retreating further into his seat on the couch.

 

“But, dad, I’m not a criminal! I had nothing to do with this,” he says. “You know that.”

 

“And neither is that poor boy Liam. But now that his father is off of the case and I’m in charge, I’m not taking any risks with you. I’m going to find this person, and I want you to stay away from those files. Alright?” Mark asks, eyeing Louis firmly. “You’re going to forget about these incidents and you’re going to focus on soccer, because you still have a huge future ahead of you and I’m not letting some lunatic get in the way of that. Are we clear?”

 

Louis looks away from his dad and at the coffee table between them instead, unable to meet his gaze, but he nods anyway.

 

“Yes, dad. We’re clear,” he says, although he doesn’t sound very sure.

 

.

 

 

“Tryouts start next week,” Liam tells Zayn and Ashton over lunch the next day. Cindy and Niall are sitting with some of Cindy’s friends at another table making plans for the weekend. Zayn is pretty sure those two are a thing now, now that they’ve gotten a lot closer from the play’s incident, but nothing is ever certain with those two. They also haven’t seen much of Harry lately, who’s been busy with planning the choir’s upcoming performances, so it’s just the three of them that day sitting at their usual corner table in the cafeteria.

 

“You’re gonna try out?” Zayn asks. He knows Liam and Louis have been on the soccer team together for three years now, and he knows they both have a good shot at being team captain, but Zayn wasn’t sure if Liam would be up for working with the other lad on a team amidst everything else going on. 

 

Liam shrugs in response, “I want to. It’s not like I won’t make the team, really, it’s just a matter of whether or not I’ll be captain this year. Plus, I like doing it. It helps relieve stress and I think it’d look good on my applications to have done it all four years. It shows I’m commited.”

 

Ashton nods in agreement, swallowing his spoonful of mashed potatoes before he adds, “I was thinking about trying out this year, actually. Think it’d be fun.”

 

“Dude, that’d be awesome!” Liam says, placing his hand on Ashton’s shoulder and shaking the boy’s frame, “I think you should.”

 

“Soccer, though?” Zayn asks, slightly confused. “Don’t get me wrong, you should definitely try out, but you’ve always said you’ve never been one for sports.”

 

Ashton shrugs, not taking the words to heart, “I think it’s worth it to try out. I might like it.”

 

Liam nods, swirling the disgusting cafeteria food on his tray around with his fork, “I heard they’re not sure how many people they can fit this year. Apparently a lot of incoming freshman want to try out, but the only team members we’ve lost are Zack and Gavin since they graduated last year. I also heard Jared is trying out. Do you think you’ll come Zed?” He asks, looking at Zayn.

 

Zayn raises and eyebrow, “You want me to try out for soccer?”

 

Liam laughs and rolls his eyes, “No, idiot. I meant did you want to come and watch the tryouts.”

 

“Oh,” Zayn mutters, willing the blush away from his cheeks to hide his embarrassment. “I’m not sure if my mom would let me after everything going on,” Ashton and Liam nod sympathetically, telling him he doesn’t need to go into detail, “but if I can I’ll try and come. It was fun to watch you guys play like shit last year during tryouts.”

 

“Hey!” Liam whines, attempting to kick Zayn’s foot under the table but missing and hitting the steel leg of his chair instead, prompting Zayn to laugh bodily and call him out on his terrible aim.

 

“I’ll have you know I did great last year at tryouts.”

 

“Yes, Liam we know, otherwise you wouldn’t have made the team,” Ashton says, rolling his eyes.

 

Zayn continues to laugh as Liam sulks in his seat, a small frown on his lips, but stops when he notices Ashton staring seriously at something a few tables over. He looks at Liam questioningly before he follows Ashton’s gaze and realizes he’s not looking at something, but rather someone. A tall, gorgeous girl with long brown hair is sitting just a few tables over, chatting with her friends, but her eyes are staring directly back at Ashton, a suggestive look on her face. Zayn looks at Ashton, who is still staring at the girl, and raises an eyebrow.

 

“Who’s your friend, Ashton?” He jokes, eyeing Liam with a grin as the other chimes in.

 

“Yeah, bro, you gonna introduce us to your girlfriend, or what?” Liam says, making Ashton roll his eyes again.

 

“Hailee’s far from my girlfriend,” he says, rolling his eyes at the pair before going back to his staredown with the girl, Hailee. “Her and I talked a little while back but turns out she was more interested in Jared. Don’t see why though, especially not after what he did to Bella,” Ashton says.

 

Zayn’s ears perk up at Ashton’s words, looking over at Liam and seeing the other boy’s eyebrows are furrowed in confusion as well as he tries to process the words.

 

“What do you mean what he did to Bella? You think Jared killed her?” Liam asks, snapping Ashton back from his intense staring contest with Hailee and back to Liam and Zayn.

 

“What, no? I wasn’t talking about that,” Ashton says, “I’m talking about at Sofia’s party over the summer.”

 

Zayn leans forward in his seat, suddenly interested. He’s not usually one for gossip, but with the current criminal investigation hovering over their heads, he’s been more than invested in these kinds of things. “What happened at her party? That was the week I was with Danny and Ant at their family’s vacation house in Florida so I didn’t get to go,” he explains, lowering his voice to avoid anyone around them from listening in to their conversation.

 

Ashton looks at the surrounding tables cautiously for a moment before he continues, looking back and forth between Liam and Zayn to gauge their reactions, “I was trying to hook up with one of Sofia’s cousins that night, so we headed upstairs to find an empty room. The second we went up there, there were a bunch of people near the bathroom arguing and yelling. I think Niall was there, too, and Bella’s sister, and a few others who I didn’t recognize or didn’t know. We asked what happened and apparently Jared put something in Bella’s drink and tried to hook up with her. Niall saw him do it and tried to find Bella or her sister to warn them before it was too late, but he lost them. A lot of people were pretty fucked up that night and didn’t remember, but it happened and word got out.”

 

Zayn feels sick, a wave of discomfort flowing through his body. One look at Liam’s face tells him he’s not very happy about it, either.

 

“I’ve never heard about this,” Liam said, his facial expression a mixture of befuddlement and disgust.

 

“It’s disgusting,” Zayn says, and Liam and Ashton nod in agreement.

 

“Yeah, I’m not sure how close he actually got to doing anything to her, but they apparently found him alone in the bathroom with her, and she wasn’t very responsive,” Ashton says. 

 

Zayn can’t help look around the cafeteria until he finds where Jared is sitting with a group of people, one hand scrolling through his phone and his other shovelling food from his tray into his mouth with his spoon. He spends the rest of the lunch period tuning out Liam and Ashton’s conversation, intead letting his mind process the new information.

 

There has to be some sort of connection between this and the incident at Louis’ play. Jared had offered to help the three of them put the balcony together that night, and although it was strange at the time since he’s rarely ever spoken to Jared, he didn’t think twice about it, desperate for any help he could get. Is it possible that he was the one who killed Bella?

 

No, it couldn’t be, because he-

 

“Zayn?” He hears Liam ask. He snaps his attention away from Jared and turns to Liam who’s eyebrows are furrowed in concern. “You okay?”

 

“Yeah,” Zayn says after a few moments of silence, eyes flittering back and forth between Jared’s table and Liam before he finally settles them on his tray of food and nods. “Yeah, I’m okay,” he says, but the words don’t sound very true to his own ears.

 

Luckily enough, Liam doesn’t press further, just softly presses the toe of his shoe into Zayn’s ankle as a way to ground him from his thoughts before he carries on his conversation with Ashton about what to expect during tryouts.

 

.

 

“Alright everyone, round up!” 

 

Liam jogs over to the middle of the field where Coach Jensen is standing, his partner for dribbling following closely behind him. He’s practically drenched in his sweat despite the windy and chilly weather, his heart working hard to pump blood through his body to keep him moving. The rest of the boys trying out join him, Louis included, until they’re all huddled in a large circle around the coach. He can’t help flickering his gaze toward the bleachers where some students are watching the tryouts, looking hopefully for a familiar raven-haired lad despite Zayn telling him earlier that day that he wouldn’t be able to make it. He’s met with disappointment when he doesn’t see him, but shrugs it off when Coach Jensen starts talking again.

 

“I was hoping we could get some practice shots in today, but I wasn’t aware that Ethan wouldn’t be trying out this year,” Coach Jensen says. Immediately the boys start chatting amongst themselves, confused.

 

Ethan was their goalie, had been for the last three years. He was a senior like Liam, the two sharing quite a few classes together and talking frequently. He never once mentioned to Liam that he wasn’t planning on trying out this year. He can tell he’s not the only one shocked, since everyone else trying out looks confused by Ethan’s lack of presence. Not only was Ethan an incredible goalie and an amazing asset to their team, but he was the only person at tryouts who was actually interested in being goalie. Not having a decent goalie would be a huge setback this season.

 

Next to Coach Jensen is standing Ethan’s closest friend, another senior named Sami who typically plays defense, “Coach, I saw Ethan this morning and he told me he’d be at tryouts. I’m not sure where he is but he definitely told me he’d be here. Maybe something came up?”

 

Coach gives the group of hopeful-looking boys around him a conflicted look, “You guys know the rules. If I don’t know prior to the date of tryouts that you won’t be there, you won’t be considered for the team. If you can’t show up to tryouts what does that say about your dedication to this team? Unless it’s an emergency and Ethan tells me himself, I have to stand by the same rules I’ve put forth for everyone else.”

 

“But, Coach, we don’t have another goalie,” one of the sophomores insists.

 

“Well, actually, Coach,” the group of boys turn to Jared, where he’s standing and rubbing sheepishly at the back of his neck. “I was actually hoping maybe I could fill his spot?”

 

He hears Louis give a loud, snort, “Yeah, Coach. He’d make a great goalie considering he knows a thing or two about not making goals.”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ashton asks from beside Liam, stepping forward to defend Jared. It takes Liam aback after their conversation from lunch the other day when Ashton was telling he and Zayn about what Jared did to Bella, but he supposes Ashton’s words are moreso to put Louis in his place than to be an ally to Jared.

 

“Why the hell are you even here? You can’t even kick a ball properly.” Louis snorts, a couple of other players chuckling, “Should’ve stuck to your fucking drums and left this for those of us that don’t have two left feet.”

 

Ashton stands up straight and looks at Louis, his facial expression shifting into one of pure anger, but the words that follow come out of Liam’s own mouth instead.

 

“Shut it, Tomlinson.” The words leave his mouth before he realizes it, everyone looking back and forth between he and Louis curiously as tension builds within the circle. Even Coach Jensen is looking at them curiously, unaware of the riff that’s occurred between his two star players as of late.

 

“Or what? You’re gonna come after me, too? Just like you did Calum, and now Ethan?” Louis says, moving over and breaking the circle until he’s standing in the center of it, right in front of Liam. Ashton places his arm around Liam’s shoulder for support, but Liam shrugs it off of him, his heart still beating frantically in his chest at the rising tension, anger thrumming through his veins as he eyes Louis angrily.

 

“You have no clue what you’re talking about. I’m on this team, too, so why would I try and get rid of our own goalie and teammate?! All you’ve been doing lately is throwing around false accusations,” Liam tells him, crossing his arms and eyeing Louis firmly. Louis crosses his own arms, never once breaking eye contact. Liam can see the anger and frustration reflected in Louis’ eyes, and he’s sure his own eyes mirror Louis’.

 

“What, you thought I’d back down after that play incident and let you become captain of this team? You thought you could take away our goalie and the person I train with for tryouts, just so you could become Captain? You think I’d let you take that away from me, too?” He accuses, shoving Liam’s shoulders until the taller boy is taking a step back to keep his body upright.

 

“That’s enough, Tomlinson!” Coach Jensen barks, before either of them could get another word in, startling everyone but Louis and Liam who have yet to break their eye contact. “If you think I’d tolerate those kinds of words from a member of this team, let alone a captain, you’re about to face a hard reality. There’s plenty of other people here willing to work just as hard as you, if not harder, for a shot at being the captain of this team,” he says, stepping over until he’s standing in the space between Louis and Liam, doing his best to separate the two. 

 

He looks at them both stiffly before he continues, much quieter and only for them to hear, “You’re both two of my best players and both important assets to this team. I was planning on making you both co-captains, but now I’m not so sure that I want either of you leading this team. If you two don’t figure this thing out between you, then I won’t hesitate to put that all aside and give your spots to people who are more deserving of it. I will not have a team of players with this kind of negativity and tension between them, do you boys understand me?”

 

Liam hesitates, but finally let’s his gaze wander away from Louis until he’s eyeing his coach, nodding solemly, “Yes, Coach.”

 

Coach Jensen nods, and the two of them turn to look at Louis, who shakes his head as he continues glaring at Liam, but mutters a “yes, Coach” anyway.

 

Coach Jensen very briefly looks shocked at Louis’ calm response, expecting another fit from the boy, but brushes it off as he heaves a quiet sigh of relief and turns to face the rest of the boys.

 

“Jared, we’ll put you in the goal for now to see what you’ve got. The rest of you can split into teams of two and practice passing back and forth until we figure out teams,” Coach says.

 

Liam looks at Ashton who nods, signalling that they’ll be partners. The circle of boys disband, the tension releasing with it as they all spread out throughout the field, but Liam’s body still feels rigid and tense. He grabs one of the soccer balls lying around and passes it around between his feet before guiding Ashton to the far left corner of the field, away from everyone else. He meets Jared’s eye as he walks past the goal, who nods at him and motions his head toward Louis with a look of disgust, before turning around and going back to the direction of the goal where one of the team managers is waiting for him. Liam looks at Ashton to make sure the other boy saw the exchange. The blonde gives Liam a shrug as his eyes flicker back and forth between Jared and Liam.

 

It’s when they’re finally at a good distance away from everyone else, expertly kicking the ball back and forth to one another and occasionally dribbling it around, when Ashton asks, “What do you think that was about?”

 

Liam looks around to make sure no one else can hear them, but everyone else is engaged in their own conversations, the strong gust of wind taking over the field acting as a sound barrier.

 

“Jared’s been trying to get on the team since freshman year and never has, except for sophomore year when he was put on but was benched the whole season. He’s not a bad player, there’s just been better,” Liam says. He can see Ashton’s mind working as he tries to put the pieces together.

 

“You don’t think-,” Ashton starts, giving Liam a conflicted look. He pointedly looks between Jared and Louis, before looking back at Liam with a raised eyebrow. He doesn’t have to continue for Liam to know what he’s hinting at. He kicks the ball towards Liam, but misses terribly, and Liam himself is too entranced in his thoughts to worry about where it’s gone.

 

“I wasn’t,” he says truthfully, his gaze falling back toward the goal where Jared is still standing talking to their Coach, “but I am now.”

 

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I love reading your guys’ comments :)


	4. Louis’ Ego

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :)

“Let me get this straight,” Zayn says, eyeing Liam doubtfully. “Jared and Bella had a thing. Jared roofied her. Bella goes missing. Bella gets killed after Jared helps us with rebuilding the balcony. The same nails we used to build the first balcony that we took apart were possibly the same ones used to hang up Bella. Jared wants to be the goalie for the soccer team. Ethan, the soccer team’s goalie, conveniently goes missing before tryouts. Jared hates Louis because Louis is a dick to him.You think Jared is behind everything to get back at Louis.”

 

“Precisely,” Liam says, watching Zayn pace back and forth in his bedroom. Immediately after tryouts, Liam headed over to Zayn’s, not even bothering to shower or get dressed into his other clothes in the lockeroom, mostly because he was in a rush to share this information with Zayn in person, but because he also didn’t want to be near Louis or Jared in that lockeroom.

 

Zayn continues pacing, shaking his head and muttering “no, no, no” repeatedly, before he finally halts to a stop and faces Liam, “but what about Calum?”

 

“What _about_ Calum?” Liam asks, his fingers unconsciously twisting into Zayn’s soft bedsheets.

 

“How does he tie into this? I mean, I get Louis wanted to practice with him for tryouts, but wouldn’t it be a little excessive for him to be kidnapped just because Louis wanted to practice with him? That just doesn’t make any sense,” he says. Liam shrugs, unsure himself.

 

“But with Calum gone, that’s still one more open spot on the soccer team,” Liam says thoughtfully.

 

Zayn hums, resuming his pacing, “but if he wanted goalie then why does it matter?”

 

Liam sighs, placing his head between his hands. “I don’t know, Zayn. None of this makes any sense to me. Who would go to these measures just for a spot on a fucking soccer team?” He asks rhetorically.

 

“I don’t know, Liam. I just have a weird feeling about all of this. I don’t know even know how to feel after hearing what Ashton said about Jared,” he says, stopping his pacing and coming to a halt in front of Liam. 

 

Liam looks up from his hands and sighs, reaching out to grab Zayn by his waist and pull the boy into his lap. Zayn lets himself be manouvered around until he can comfortably wrap his arms around Liam’s neck, rubbing at his shoulders in an attempt to release the tension there. He ignores the blush making it’s way to his cheeks at their position while Liam hides his face in Zayn’s neck and takes deep breaths. He gets like this sometimes, when he’s overwhelmed and just needs to be held, so Zayn let’s him just sit there and breathe for a moment.

 

Eventually, he scrunches up his nose pokes Liam’s cheek with his index finger, laughing as he says, “You still smell all sweaty.”

 

He feels Liam let out a short breath into his neck as he chuckles, making Zayn’s whole body feel warm and fuzzy. “You don’t smell so great yourself, could use a shower,” he hears Liam murmur, his lips tickling Zayn’s neck. The words are a lie, because Zayn smells like a mixture of fresh citrus and amber and his hair is still damp under the hand he has in Zayn’s hair, but Zayn’s reaction helps ease some of the tension out of Liam’s body as he momentarily forgets everything else around them.

 

“Oy,” he grunts, shoving at Liam’s side and making the other boy laugh. “I took one before you got here,” he says defensively.

 

Liam laughs and flips them over so that they’re now lying horizontally on Zayn’s bed, Zayn’s heart beating quickly as Liam carefully tries to manouver him without hurting him. He presses Zayn into the mattress with his hips and wraps his arms around the other boy tightly, resting his head on Zayn’s abdomen and squeezing until Zayn is laughing and trying to get out of his hold.

 

“Leeyum,” he whines, squirming around to show his discomfort despite feeling oddly content under Liam’s hold. He’s glad Liam isn’t looking at him because he’s sure his cheeks are a bright red. “Get off of me.”

 

“No,” Liam insists, shaking his head on Zayn’s stomach and tickling the other boy with his nose through his shirt. “‘M comfy, could fall asleep just like this.”

 

Zayn laughs, reaching down to tangle his fingers in Liam’s hair. The strands are still damp with sweat, the humidity making them curl slightly around his fingers as he massages Liam’s scalp. They stay like that for a few moments, both of them just basking in each other’s comfort until Zayn finally breaks the silence.

 

“Hey, Li? Can I ask you something?” He says, voice quiet just in case Liam has fallen asleep on him. 

 

Liam immediately stirs from his position, resting his chin on Zayn’s chest so he can make eye contact with him, the point of his chin digging uncomfortably into his skin and causing him to squirm under the pressure paired with Liam’s intense gaze.

 

“Of course, Z. What’s up?” He says, heart rate suddenly picking back up.

 

Zayn’s fingers stop carding through Liam’s hair, his palm coming around to cup the side of Liam’s face as he sighs, “Why did Ant text me after tryouts were over saying you and Louis got in a fight?”

 

Liam groans, turning away from Zayn’s face and resting his cheek back on Zayn’s stomach. “I was hoping you wouldn’t find out about that,” he says, sounding ashamed.

 

“Mhm,” Zayn murmurs sarcastically, his fingers now tapping Liam’s shoulder. “What happened? Why didn’t you mention it to me?”

 

Liam sighs, pausing to collect his words. He’s ashamed to admit that he argued with Louis, even though Louis has done far worse to him the past few days. “I’m just so tired of pretending like I’m okay with the fact that one of my own best friends would think so negatively of me. I’ve known Louis my whole life, but with the way he’s been acting since the incident, I can’t look at him and see a friend. He could’ve confronted me, he could’ve seen my side. He could’ve just believed me, believed _us_ , but he didn’t. Instead, he was the first person to point fingers, and at us of all people. Harry was right when he called Louis a monster the other day. That’s all I can see now.”

 

Zayn looks conflicted as he takes in Liam’s words. He agrees with Liam, he does, but at the same time, he understands Louis’ actions. Louis has always been one to act on impulse. His emotions always seem hightened, making him not only more energetic and loud, but also more susceptible to frustration and anger. Despite all of that, he never, ever expected Louis to pull something like this on his own friends.

 

“I mean, I kinda get it though, ya know?” He finds himself telling Liam. “He spent months working on that play. We all knew how important it was to him. Hell, the whole student body knew with all of those posters and announcements he would make. He was never subtle about that. It was his one shot at the future he wanted to build for himself, and now here he is trying to use soccer as a backup, and he can’t even have that without people going missing.”

 

“And that makes it okay?” Liam asks, anger seeping into his voice. Zayn knows it’s not directed at him, but he can’t help but feel the need to curl in on himself at the harsh tone, either. “That makes it okay for him to blame me? Of all people? He didn’t even have any sympathy for those victims, just cared about how it affected _him_ and _his future_. Not like those people don’t have families or like they don’t have their own futures, not like _I_ don’t have a future.”

 

Zayn sighs, “I don’t know what to say, Liam. I really don’t know. I wish he didn’t say what he did, but I also can’t blame him for it. If there were someone who tried sabotage my art portfolio, if there were someone sabotaging my one shot at my uni scholarship, I don’t think I’d be happy either. I’d be selfish too in his position”

 

“You wouldn’t have accused your own friends, though. That’s the difference between you and Louis. He looked dead in the eyes of those cops and told them I did it without any evidence, meaning he truly believed I would do that to him,” Liam says solemnly. “And that’s why I don’t think I’d ever be able to forgive him. Not even if we were to find the actual person responsible and he were to apologize.”

 

Zayn frowns, brushing a few pieces of hair out of Liam’s face, “You don’t think it’s Jared?”

 

“I think it’s very likely it’s him, but we’re just speculating, yeah? You said it yourself that you don’t think it all adds up, and I don’t blame you. This doesn’t sound like something a student would do,” Liam says, his hands coming to rest at Zayn’s sides, rubbing slow circles into his skin. “Innocent ‘til proven guilty, yeah? Wouldn’t wanna be a hypocrite,” he mutters.

 

“Do you think we’ll find out who did this?” Zayn asks quietly, unsure himself.

 

“In due time, I think we will,” Liam says, sounding very sure as holds onto Zayn tightly for comfort. “My dad may not be on the case anymore, but if Louis’ dad agrees with his son whatsoever that I’m guilty, then I’m not going down without a fight.”

 

“I’d be an accomplice to murder,” Zayn says suddenly. Liam frowns at him, moving to get a good luck at Zayn’s face, “What?”

 

Zayn frowns and looks away, letting out a small huff of breath before he explains. “If you get accused of Bella’s murder, I could be an accomplice. I helped build the balcony. I was with you the whole day and I told the cops that. It was true, but if they convict you, they could convict me, too,” he says, feeling tears prick in eyes as he says the words out loud. He’s been thinking them for the past few days, anxiously waiting for some evidence to come forward saying he and Liam are innocent, but now that he’s said them out loud, he feels the unfortunate reality they hold.

 

“No, no, no,” Liam says, shaking his head. It feels like his heart has dropped in his chest as he takes in everything Zayn says. “No, that won’t happen, Z, okay? We’ll find who did this. We have to, okay?” He asks, cupping Zayn’s face in his palm and turning his face until their eyes meet.

 

“How?” Zayn asks, voice cracking as he tries to keep his eyes from shedding any of the tears they hold. “Everything’s against us.”

 

“We’ll find them, okay? I know we will. No one I know is as smart as you, and with everyone else on our side we can figure out who did this. I know we can. We’ll talk to my dad and see what he can do for us. Just promise me, yeah?” Liam pleads, his own eyes threatening to spill tears, “Promise me you’re going to stay safe and we’ll get through this together?”

 

Zayn shakes his head, wiping away at his eyes. He feels stupid for crying, knowing that the situation is a lot worse for Liam than it is for him, but that doesn’t stop his eyes from shedding tears as he says, “I don’t know Liam, I can’t promise that I won’t be the next to go. I don’t know.”

 

“Promise me you’ll try, okay Z? Just promise me that,” he pleads. Zayn shakes his head, unable to bring himself to say the words, but he reaches out his fist anyway, uncurling his pinky finger for Liam to wrap his around. Liam lets out a quiet sob as he wraps his pinky around Zayn’s, before flipping them over on the bed so that he can hold Zayn close to his chest, almost as if he’s shielding him away from the terribly cruel world around them.

 

 

.

 

 

“Can I help you?” Harry asks, not bothering to look up from his piano sheet music at the intruder. He’s spent the past few days during his spare time hidden in the choir room when it’s not in use, ignoring everyone around him as he digs a hole for himself in the world of music, filling it with sheet music and piano keys until he’s surrounded by a comfortable melody that helps him forget the feelings of despair and pessimism he’s grown accustomed to the last few days.

 

He hasn’t bothered to tell anyone his whereabouts, but he figures it’s not very hard to find him.

 

“Uh, yeah, actually,” he hears. He doesn’t need to turn around to see who it is, instead allowing his fingers to resume their placements on the black and white keys in front of him, spitting out an eerie tune in the large, open room.

 

“I thought you didn’t want to hear what I had to say,” he tells Louis, squinting to read the next notes on the sheet before continuing.

 

“I didn’t know you could play,” Louis says instead, Harry barely being able to hear him over the melodic sound echoing throughout the room. He sounds like he’s migrated closer to where Harry is sitting, his back turned to the only entrance near the room. The lights in the room are off, but the entire back wall of the room is a large window that overlooks the school’s yard, the glass panels bringing in what little sunshine it can on the cloudy autumn day.

 

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” is all Harry responds with, not pausing the movements of his fingers. He can feel the warmth of Louis’ body radiating against his back, telling him the other boy is now standing behind him, watching him play. He hears Louis sigh, the warmth of his breath tickling the back of Harry’s neck.

 

“Listen, Harry, I’m sorry, okay? Please hear me out,” he says. Harry rolls his eyes and continues playing, only pausing to reach forward to flip the page of sheet music to the next.

 

“What are you sorry for, Louis?” He asks, knowing his calm and relaxed demeaner is pissing Louis off. He can’t bring himself to care.

 

“Listen, okay? Liam is-“

 

He slams his hands down on the keys at that, startling Louis with the loud sound it causes, a sharp contrast to the soft melody he was playing just seconds before. He turns around on the piano bench to glare at the blue-eyed boy, cutting him off.

 

“-If the next word to come out of your mouth isn’t ‘innocent,’ then I’m not helping you with whatever it is you want, and you can leave me alone and find someone else to vent to about your stupid problems,” he says, folding his arms defensively across his chest. Louis frowns, mirroring Harry’s position by crossing his own arms in front of him, not backing down.

 

“I don’t know if he is okay? But I want to know!” Louis says. Harry raises his eyebrow at him, unimpressed.

 

“What the fuck does that even mean? You want to know what? That your own best friend is innocent?” He asks, rolling his eyes at Louis once again.

 

Louis looks around the room, unable to meet Harry’s eyes, lowering his voice to say, “My dad brought the case files over to his home office. He told me to stay away from them, but I need to look at them. I need to see what they say.”

 

Harry looks at him, irritated, “And why do I care, Louis? I don’t need to see some stupid police reports to know Liam is innocent.”

 

Louis rolls his own eyes, before resting his gaze back on Harry. There’s something conflicted about his expression, but there’s a fierceness to his eyes that makes Harry feel strange.

 

“Listen, I’m not an idiot, okay? I know how these things work. If he were the only suspect on this case, he and Zayn would’ve been arrested by now, but they haven’t been. Which means there’s some evidence that we don’t know about that conflicts with what I thought,” Louis tells him. As an afterthought, he adds, “and possibly another suspect.”

 

Harry takes a moment to process the words but nods slowly, showing Louis he’s following along. He figured maybe the hesitancy to convict Liam may have stemmed from the police department’s lack of sufficient evidence or Liam’s relation to the sheriff, but this makes more sense. Still, he asks, the irritation clear in his voice, “Then why do you need my help?”

 

“Because, Harry!” Louis says, pulling at his hair with his fists in frustration, “I’m not as smart as you are. My dad told me to not read those files because I could be a suspect, but I know that if I see them I could maybe, I don’t know-do _something_.” Harry doesn’t say anything, just allows Louis to finish. “I’ve just felt so guilty after this all happened at my play and everyone’s disappearing because of me, and I feel like I can’t even fucking do anything besides put more people in danger!”

 

He reaches his leg out to kick the closest thing to him out of frustration, which ends up being one of the extra chairs against the wall. It topples over and goes flying halfway across the room, startling Harry.

 

“Louis,” he says, trying to calm down the other boy. He gets Louis’ frustration, and despite his own anger, he can’t help but feel a tug at his heart telling him to help the other boy.

 

“Louis,” he tries again, standing to his feet and walking over to where Louis is standing, glaring at the floor angrily. He calls his name a third time which proves to be much more successful at getting the other boy’s attention.

 

He grabs Louis’ arm until he looks up to face him, before saying, “Louis, I’ll help you, but only on one condition.”

 

“What is it?” Louis asks immediately, eyes shifting from anger to something more conflicted. “Anything, I’ll do it,” he pleads.

 

Harry nods solemnly, before he eyes Louis stiffly and says, “You’re going to tell your Dad it wasn’t Liam. You have to make sure he’s no longer considered a suspect. You have to, Louis.”

 

Louis frowns but nods anyway, surprising Harry as tears threaten to spill from his red-rimmed eyes. “Okay,” he whispers. “I’ll do it. But please, Harry-“

 

“-I know. I’ll help you Louis, but you have to help Liam first,” he says, letting go of Louis and stepping away from the other boy, until he’s walking completely out of the choir room, now empty save for Louis who’s still standing inside it, watching him retreat.

 

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m torn between wanting to leave you guys with huge cliffhangers and not updating for days or just posting all of the chapters at once because I can’t contain myself, so I’ve just settled for updating once every day lol  
> Also, this one is a bit of a shorter chapter, but the next one will most likely be a lot longer. I have the fic finished, but I’m just trying to figure out how I want to divide it all up.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts!


	5. Niall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn’t planning on uodating this weekend since I’ve been really busy, but I already had this chapter ready to go, so I thought I’d post it! As always, please let me know your thoughts :) i love hearing your guys’ theories.

“Can we both agree that Harry’s been a bit, well, strange lately?” Cindy asks, leaning over her desk during AP Physics to ask Liam the question.

 

Liam looks up from his worksheet and frowns at her, “What do you mean by that?” Ever since the incident, and he and Zayn attempting to figure out the mystery of the murder, he feels like he’s been overly suspicious of everything and everyone, so Cindy confirming some of the suspicions he’s had over Harry’s absence has him intrigued.

 

“He’s just been a little m.i.a., don’t you think? I asked if he wanted to join us for lunch yesterday and he just said he was busy and stormed off. I asked today if he wanted to practice for choir because I figured that’s what had him so busy and stressed, but he just shrugged me off and told me the same thing,” she said, a worried look etched onto her features. 

 

Liam looks at her in thought, “I’m not sure,” he says. “ Maybe I could talk to him?”

 

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Liam,” she says sadly. “I saw him talking to Louis this morning. Do you think maybe the two of them are up to something?”

 

Harry hanging out with Louis could very well be a terrible thing, especially after Louis’ allegations. He wonders if Harry has started to believe Louis’ claims and that’s why he’s been so distant from him. Liam shrugs, frowning.

 

“You think we’ll see him during lunch?” Cindy asks, referring to their meeting. Her question breaks Liam from his train of thought and he shrugs in response, focusing his attention back onto his worksheet as he says, “I hope so. If not, he’ll probably be in the choir room anyway and we’ll just confront him then.”

 

Cindy nods, seeming satisfied with his answer, before she returns her own focus back to her worksheet, unaware of the thoughts crossing through Liam’s mind.  
.

 

_**Talked to Jared today in calc. Found out something interesting. Meet in choir room at lunch?** _

 

Liam rereads the text he got from Niall earlier that day, before looking at the rest of the group.

 

“I don’t get why he’s not here,” he says, looking around concerned. He, Zayn, Ashton, Cindy, and Harry have all been waiting for him to show up for 15 minutes now, and have even tried calling and texting him to figure out his whereabouts, but they’ve had no luck.

 

“He probably got held up by a teacher or something, I’m not sure,” Ashton says.

 

Liam looks at Cindy for confirmation, who just shrugs. “I don’t know. I saw him third period, but after his text I haven’t heard anything from him. He usually texts me when he’s in film, but that’s not until after lunch. I’ll let you guys know if I hear from him,” she says, although she sounds a little scared.

 

“I’m sure he’s okay,” Zayn says, doing his best to ease some of the tension in the room, though he doesn’t sound very convincing to himself, either.

 

They wait for a couple more minutes in silence, before they agree to split off and go eat lunch, unsure of where Niall could be.

 

“Liam,” Zayn says, after everyone else has left and it’s just the two of them left in the room. Liam and Cindy had planned on confronting Harry, but after Niall’s disappearance he didn’t think it was appropriate timing. “I was planning on asking Niall this morning if we could talk about Sofia’s party to see what he knew about Jared, but he was in a rush to get to class and said he’d talk to us all about it during lunch. Do you think, maybe, that’s why he didn’t show up?”

 

“What do you mean?” Liam asks, confused.

 

Zayn shakes his head, clearly deep in thought, “Forget it. I thought maybe Jared would have something to do with Niall suddenly missing, but I have no clue how he’d even know. I don’t even know where I’m going with any of this. I feel like I’m just looking for any excuse to blame this all on Jared so that people would know you’re innocent.”

 

Liam sighs, walking over to Zayn and wrapping his arm around Zayn’s shoulders to pull him into his side, “It’s alright, Z. We’ll find out who did this, whether or not it’s Jared, and I’m sure Niall’s okay. If anything did happen to him, there’s too many people in this school for anyone to not have witnessed something. It’s gonna be okay.”

 

He’s not very convinced himself, but it gets a little of the tension to seep away from Zayn’s shoulders, and that’s good enough for him.

 

.

 

“We just need to get them before my dad comes home, photocopy them, and have them back in his office before he gets home tomorrow,” Louis says, unlocking the door to his home with the spare key and holding it open for Harry. Harry follows him inside wordlessly, looking around at the eerily quiet Tomlinson home.

 

“Where’s everyone else?” He asks, following Louis as they bypass the living room and go straight up the stairs to where Mark’s home office is located. He’s been to Louis’ house plenty of times before, but it’s never felt quite so quite or personal. It’s always loud and hectic with Louis’ younger siblings always flying around their space, making their presence known. 

 

“Mom took the girls to my aunt’s for a girl’s night with our cousins, they won’t be back until a little later since they still have school tomorrow. Dad gets home late today, so no doubt he’s going to bed as soon as he gets home, and he has an early shift tomorrow, so he shouldn’t notice that anything is missing,” Louis explains, finally bringing them to a halt in front of a set of brown double doors. He opens them carefully, looking inside just to be cautious, before walking inside and motioning for Harry to follow.

 

The room is fairly bare, sans a desk and a chair on the far wall and a large cabinet off to the side. Harry eyes the cabinet, intrigued, but Louis bypasses the cabinet completely and walks straight to his dad’s desk, opening the second drawer from the top and pulling out a stack of files that he hands over to Harry to hold. As Louis looks through the other drawers quickly, Harry glances at the files in his hands and reads the messy handwriting at the top of them, the names of the victims written in a tiny scrawl on the small tabs. He raises an eyebrow at Louis, silently questioning his ability to find the files from their specific spot almost instantly.

 

Louis gives him a sheepish look in return. “I’ve been debating looking at them all week, so it really didn’t take too long to find them. I think my dad was shocked I hadn’t stolen them yet, so he stopped hiding them,” he explains. He takes the files out of Harry’s hands, empties the papers out of the manila envelopes, before filling them with blank papers that he steals from the printer’s tray next to his dad’s desk. He puts the folders back into the desk, making it appear as if they’ve been untouched, when in reality their contents are now in the hands of Louis and Harry.

 

“Let’s go,” Louis mutters, leading the way out of his dad’s office and into his own bedroom down the hall.

 

Harry takes a second to admire the familiar walls and decor that is Louis’ bedroom. The walls are painted a muted blue which compliment the dark grey bedsheets and furniture that occupy the room beautifully. There are various clothing items strewn across the floor and corners of the bedsheets left untucked, telling Harry that the other boy was probably in a rush to get ready that morning. There are a couple of smaller art pieces hung up in small frames above the desk in the corner that he recognizes from one of Zayn’s many sketchbooks, and a couple photo frames of Louis and his siblings propped up on the dressers. He barely has time to smile at the serenity of the room when he feels Louis’ figure collide with his own in a hug, Louis’ head resting perfectly in the juncture between Harry’s neck and shoulder as his arms wrap around Harry’s back.

 

“Oomph,” he mutters at the impact, almost dropping the papers in his hands. He sets them on the dresser behind him before he brings his arms around Louis’ shoulders hesitantly and asks, “What’s this about?”

 

Louis doesn’t speak up for a while, but Harry can feel the other’s breath against his clavicle and he does his best to stop the shudder making its way up his spine.

 

Finally, Louis pulls away from the hug and eyes Harry sadly, “Thank you for still trying with me.”

 

Harry furrows his eyebrows in confusion, but doesn’t move his arms from where they’re still wrapped around Louis’ back, “Trying with you? What do you mean?”

 

Louis snorts fondly, but his eyes still contain a bit of sadness, “I know I haven’t been the nicest, most forgiving person lately,” he says, interrupted only by a snort from Harry, “but you listened to me and offered to help, and that’s something I really appreciate you for, Harry. So thank you.”

 

Harry smiles, pulling Louis in for another hug, his heart beating wildly in his chest at the praise, “I’m glad I could help, Louis. I was really hoping you’d come around eventually.”

 

He pulls away to look at Louis firmly before adding, “And I really hope that there is not one thought left in that head of yours that even considers Liam to be responsible for this whole mess.”

 

He’s met with nothing but an eyeroll from Louis, and he figures he’d rather take the silence from Louis over another fight with the stubborn boy.

 

.

 

 

Liam exits the bathroom attached to his bedroom suite later that night, hair still wet and nothing but a towel wrapped loosely around his frame. Liam’s always preferred showering in the mornings, loves how the water can leave him wide awake and ready to start his day, but he was feeling restless and grimy underneath his skin all day and hoped that the night shower would help calm him a little. 

 

Niall texted them all earlier, letting them know he’s safe and just got stuck in lunch detention without his phone because someone apparently ratted him out for stealing Jeremy, the large faux skeleton that used to reside in the anatomy room before it went missing two weeks ago. He apologized for not making it to the meeting during lunch, and while it had them all relieved, Liam wasn’t sure if Niall being safe helped to alleviate any of his fears.

 

He stalks over to his dresser where he keeps his comfortable clothes for sleeping when he hears his phone ring from his nightstand. He chances a glance at the clock on his nightstand, briefly wondering why anyone is calling him near midnight on a school night. He quickly grabs an old tshirt and boxers and throws them on before reaching for his phone, not bothering to check the caller ID before swiping his phone screen and bringing the phone up to his ear.

 

“Uh, hello?” He asks, using the towel to wipe at his soaking wet hair.

 

He hears a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line before he hears a familiar, “Li? Did I wake you?”

 

Liam smiles softly, his heart rate increasing at the other boy’s voice. He looks at the clock again, suddenly a little more alert. Why is Zayn calling him so late? 

 

“Zee, you alright? Is everything okay?” He asks, tossing the towel in the direction of the bathroom door before sitting on the edge of his bed, waiting for a response.

 

“Uhm,” he hears Zayn say, and he can’t help but grow even more worried at Zayn’s hesitance. “I’m- I think so? I’m safe, yeah, I think. I’m in my room, but uhm-“

 

“Zee,” Liam says softly into the phone, cutting off the boy’s rambling, “Why’d you call?”

 

He hears another sharp intake of breath and waits.

 

“This sounds so stupid, but-please Liam, don’t judge me. I’m scared, okay? There’s someone out there and any one of us could be next and I’m scared. Hell, I thought we’d lost Niall.”

 

Liam inhales sharply, “Zee, I’m not judging you, okay? I understand. I’m scared, too.” He admits. He moves around on his bed until he’s lying vertically on it, moving so he’s under the covers. 

 

“I’m so tired but I can’t even sleep,” he hears Zayn grunt out. He nods along, despite knowing Zayn can’t see him.

 

“Me too. I even tried taking a shower to calm me down before bed but I don’t think that worked. I’m way too stressed about everything.”

 

“This isn’t at all how I expected our senior year to go.” He hears Zayn say. He snorts,“Tell me about it,” he says.

 

“No, you,” he hears, and Liam furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

 

“Huh? What do you mean?” He asks, shifting the phone so that it’s lying on the bed and he now has Zayn on speaker.

 

“Tell me about how you expected this year to go,” Zayn says, and the despite the softness of the boy’s voice, if echoes loudly throughout Liam’s bedroom.

 

Liam takes a moment to process the words and bites his lip while he thinks.

 

“Well, I definitely didn’t think that agreeing to be Louis’ stage manager would end up with me getting accused of murder-“ he’s cut off by the sound of Zayn groaning.

 

“Please, Li, talk about anything but Louis and this stupid mess right now. Anything,” he pleads and Liam closes his eyes briefly before he continues.

 

“Well, I didn’t think I’d do as well on my SAT as I did, but that turned out alright. More than alright, even,” he laughs and hears Zayn snort on the other end of the line.

 

“I also thought I’d have less work to do for some of my classes since it’s senior year, but I guess I can live with that. I also didn’t expect applying for colleges to be so stressful, or to be so concerned about my future at this young age. I thought my only concerns would be making time for my friends and you.” He pauses to think before continuing, “I was also excited for soccer, but I’m not sure how that’s gonna go now. Coach was talking during tryouts about making me and Louis co-captains, and that wouldn’t be so bad, right?” He asks. He doesn’t really give Zayn a chance to interject before he’s continuing his ramble.

 

“I also thought I’d be a lot braver by the time I graduated. I remember being a kid and still being a little shy around other people, and I always told myself that when I got older and made more friends I would be a lot more outspoken and courageous. I hate hiding behind people, and I-“ he sighs. “I hate hiding my feelings and I hate not being able to stick up for myself. Everyone has this image of me that isn’t true, especially after this whole incident,” he winces at his words, knowing Zayn just requested that he not talk about, but be finds it hard not to since it’s been on his mind constantly for the past couple weeks. “I want to say everyone thinks negatively, except you and our friends, but after Louis was so quick to think otherwise I’m not even sure about that anymore. The only thing I’m sure about is-”

 

He pauses to listen to how Zayn might react, but is caught offguard when he hears that Zayn’s breathing has evened out on the other end, telling Liam the other boy has probably fallen asleep. His heart warms at the sounds of the other boy’s soft breaths, slightly disappointed that his words put the other boy to sleep, but also pleased that he was able to calm the other boy down enough to lull him to sleep. He smiles to himself and decides to take advantage of the brief burst of courage he has to whisper, “my feelings about you.”

 

Sure enough, there’s no response from Zayn other than his soft breaths and light snores, the sounds lulling Liam himself into a calmer state of mind, and soon enough he’s falling asleep to the other boy’s light sounds, not bothering to hang up the phone as his eyes flicker shut.

 

.

 

Zayn bites his lip, looking back and forth between Harry and Louis. “Liam can’t know about this.”

 

Louis rolls his eyes, “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

 

Harry raises an eyebrow at Louis, unimpressed, “Actually, in this situation, I’m pretty sure it can.”

 

Louis makes a dismissive motion with his hands, and that’s that. Soon enough, Zayn is sitting down and joining them at the table Harry and Louis managed to drag into the choir room to use after school, all of the records from the files splayed out in front of them. He doesn’t know where to start so he grabs the closest paper in his proximity, setting it back down almost immediately when he sees it’s a collage of the images the coroner had taken of Bella’s body during the autopsy. He closes his eyes and wills away the nausea rising in his system at the gruesome sight, taking a moment to breathe. Harry notices his discomfort immediately and reaches his hand out to grasp Zayn’s reassuringly.

 

“I can’t do this, Haz,” he mutters, wearily eyeing the files around him. 

 

Louis gives him an exasperated look, which Harry shoots away with a glare before eyeing Zayn sympathetically, thinking for a moment before he speaks up.

 

“How about this, Z. Don’t think of it as a murder case. Think of it as an art project,” Zayn raises an eyebrow at him while he tries to follow a long. “Make it seem like this is some art piece in a museum and you’re just analyzing it. That’s all.”

 

Zayn looks at him thoughtfully before he slowly starts to nod in understanding, taking deep breaths as he reaches for the picture again. “Okay,” he mutters, less referring to Harry and more just trying to get himself in order. He looks at the photos hesitantly, but tries to put himself in the mindset that Harry created.

 

They spend the next few hours looking over the sheets, Louis focusing on the details of Calum and Ethan’s disappearances and Harry on the list of possible suspects and motives of the killer. Zayn’s eyes, however, don’t leave the coroner’s report on Bella’s death, mentally noting each injury that marked her body.

 

“Find anything?” Harry asks after a while, breaking Zayn and Louis out of their trance.

 

Louis shrugs, “It says the same things we’ve heard before. Ethan was last seen during school hours but disappeared after that. The reports say they think he got in some sort of altercation but nothing was reported by the school. That’s because nothing happened, he just flat out disappeared. As for Calum, the night before he went missing, he was at work at the diner across the street from his house. His dad said he heard him come home pretty late but didn’t actually see him. The next morning, he assumed Calum took the bus to school, but then got a call while he was at work saying Calum didn’t show up.”

 

Zayn frowns, “Well what about his mom? Did she see Calum that night?”

 

Louis gives him a curious look, “I’d hope not. His mom is dead.”

 

“Oh,” Zayn frowns, feeling uneasy. “I didn’t realize she passed.”

 

“What did you find?” Louis asks Harry, biting his lip. Zayn doesn’t miss the fact that they’ve been sitting incredibly close to one another this whole time, occasionally glancing at the other when they aren’t looking.

 

Harry looks down at the mess of papers in front of him, frowning. “The list of suspects are all, quite frankly, ridiculous. Liam’s on here, obviously, but we’ve debunked that one,” he eyes Louis with a glare as he says that, who rolls his eyes but avoids looking at Zayn, “There’s also a theory that it’s a faculty member behind all of this since there’s no way a student would orchestrate this. Coach Jensen is who they’re looking at specifically,” he says, eyeing Louis to gauge his reaction.

 

Louis nods, looking up to meet Harry and Zayn in the eye, “Last year he told my dad I spent too much time focusing on theatre and art when I could easily become a star soccer athlete if I just focused all of my attention on the team. My dad said he thinks it sounded more like a threat.”

 

“And it would sort of explain the kidnappings of Calum and Ethan, of all students, who both played soccer and were on the team with him,” Harry adds, motioning to the paper in his hand that he’s likely paraphrasing from.

 

“But it wouldn’t explain why he would take two of his star players out of the picture right before tryouts,” Louis explains.

 

“Unless he wanted to replace them on the team?” Zayn asks.

 

Louis shakes his head, “If he didn’t want them on the team, he could’ve just not put them on there. He wouldn’t need to kidnap them unless he had a different motive.”

 

Zayn nods beause Louis’ right. If the soccer coach doesn’t want a member on the team, he could easily just replace them without having to kidnap them. “And if it were Coach Jensen who did the kidnappings, then it wouldn’t explain Bella’s murder at all. Very few people knew that Cindy was being replaced by Bella for the play since we only had a few hours to prepare,” Zayn adds.

 

Harry groans, “I don’t think we’ll ever get anywhere with this at this rate.” Louis sighs and nods, crossing his arms on the table in front of him and resting his head on his forearms momentarily. Zayn himself feels tired, but tries to focus on the situation at hand. He and Liam’s futures are at risk, and he’s not risking that just to laze around.

 

So instead he asks the question he’s been wondering all day, “Is there anything in there about Jared?”

 

Louis and Harry both look at him, surprised. “Jared Gleski?” Louis asks as Harry searches through the reports in front of him, shaking his head. Zayn nods at Louis, waiting for Harry to finish his search.

 

“Nothing in here,” Harry concludes.

 

Louis leans forward, dropping the papers he’s been holding and looking at Zayn with his full interest, “Why would he be on here? Is there something you know?”

 

Zayn nods, “Apparently he tried to roofie Bella at Sofia’s party last year. He also helped Liam and I with rebuilding the new balcony for your play, and he tried out for the soccer team.”

 

Louis gasps at the last part of his sentence, “He tried out for goalie right after Ethan went missing!”

 

Harry just looks at the two of them as he tries to follow along. Zayn nods at Louis, “Liam and I have been considering him, but something doesn’t add up.”

 

“And what would that be?” Harry asks, looking a little doubtful. Meanwhile, Louis is leaning back in his seat, processing the possibility of Jared being the suspect, seemingly convinced.

 

“Isn’t it a little strange that he would commit a murder and two kidnappings perfectly, but got caught by multiple people trying to roofie Bella? I just don’t see how that adds up,” Zayn says. Harry looks at him thoughtfully, shrugging.

 

“Maybe he was drunk himself that night and was getting sloppy?” Harry suggests. He looks at Louis who just shrugs in response.

 

“I think he’s definitely someone worth noting to my dad, that’s for sure,” is all Louis says, before he’s looking back at the stack of papers in front of him, deep in thought.

 

They resume where they left off after that, Zayn’s eyes once again falling to the coroner’s report. He reads the report over and over, his eyes tracing the words “first degree murder, weapon unknown, estimated time of death: 3:00 pm,” feeling slightly uneasy. He looks at the photos and notes the deep cuts on her arms which contrast with the smaller, more shallow, and longer cuts on her neck, waist and legs. The only bruise on her body was on the side of her face, which otherwise looked free of any cuts or marks. He also noted that there were no bruises on her arms, legs, or waist, making it appear as though she wasn’t forced by her attacker. There were no signs of molestation or sexual assault either, according to his own observations and the coroner’s, making the whole thing seem peculiar. What kind of person doesn’t attempt to fight back against their attacker when their life is being threatened?

 

And just like that, he puts it all together.

 

He glances at Harry, who’s curly hair is barely peeking out from behind the paper he’s reading and blocking Zayn from his direct sight. He then looks at Louis, who has already dozed off with his face over a stack of files he’s turned into a makeshift pillow. He reaches into his back pocket quickly, turning his phone on silent before taking pictures of the files in front of him to save to his phone. When he’s done, he turns it off and shoves it back into his pocket, heart racing in his chest.

 

He needs to tell Liam.

 

“Hey guys?” He says, his voice almost cracking due to the sudden onset of nerves. Harry lowers the paper he’s holding so he can look at Zayn properly while Louis barely stirs from his nap.

 

“I think I’m gonna head home. It’s getting late and I should go before my mom gets worried,” he lies. Harry buys it nonetheless, checking the time on the clock in the corner of the room before he mutters “you’re right, we should get going,” and nudging Louis awake.

 

“What?” Louis mutters, unwillingly picking his head up from its comfortable position, his mind still dazed with sleep. Harry rolls his eyes, dragging Louis up by his elbow, “Come on, Louis. You owe me a ride for staying behind so late.” He looks at Zayn, “You okay to get home on your own? Not too shaken up?”

 

Zayn shakes his head, plastering a smile onto his face despite feeling anything very uneasy, “I think so. Thanks anyways, though.”

 

He practically bolts out of the room after that, leaving Harry and Louis to clean up the stack of reports they were analyzing before he heads to his car out in the school’s parking lot, the school’s hallways empty except for a few faculty members and security officers still lurking behind. It’s starting to get dark outside, the sun resting on the horizon as he bolts to the front door of his car. His mind is racing with thoughts as he tries to figure out a way to explain this all to Liam, preferably in person. He briefly recalls Liam telling him he, Niall, and Ashton put together a study group at his house for the night, so he knows going to Liam’s house in his shaken up state isn’t his best option right now unless he wants to embarrass himself in front of a huge group of people. Instead, he sits down in the driver seat of his car after unlocking the door, pulling out his phone and immediately searching for Liam’s contact.

 

**_Emergency! Text me when you can. I think I figured out who is behind everything. And Bella wasn’t killed, it was a suicide!_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe


	6. Zayn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sure very few people actually read these notes, but for those of you that do, I would just like to apologize for taking so long to update, especially after I stated in the last chapter’s notes that I would upload every day. I realized I actually would rather space out the uploads just so I could really get a chance to read over my chapters before posting them as well as to get feedback from you all and incorporate that into my writing. While this fic is done, I still want it to be perfect and frequently add more/take from it, but I do have a life outside of this fic and that does come first for me. I hope you all understand and aren’t upset with me for going back on my word.
> 
> That all being said, this is the chapter I’ve been the most nervous about posting. I wanted it to be perfect but there was also a lot to fit in. Therefore, it’s also the longest chapter I’ve posted. 
> 
> It’s actually kinda funny because sometimes I’m writing certain scenes and I’ll tell myself not to include something because it’s a huuuugeee hint as to who is behind everything, but I end up leaving it in the chapter anyway and you guys don’t catch on. I can’t wait to actually reveal who it is.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

**_23 Missed Calls_ **

**_6 Voicemails_ **

**_7 Unread Messages_ **

**_Harry: I’m a lil worried abt you and hope u aren’t too shaken up. Text me when u get home ok -H_ **

**_Harry: Hello? Are you home yet?_ **

**_Harry: Zayn, what the hell? Answer your phone! You have me worried!!!_ **

**_Liam: What do you mean it was a suicide? How do you know? Call me ASAP_ **

**_Liam: Are you okay? Where are you? I called your mom and she said you never came home?! You told her you were with me? I’m worried!_ **

**_Liam: Zayn? Pls answer I’m worried_ **

**_Liam: Hello? Zayn?!_ **

****

**__**

 

.

 

Liam throws his phone at the fridge in frustration. Niall approaches him hesitantly from the kitchen’s doorway, picking the phone up off of the floor on his way over to Liam and setting it on the counter behind Liam, surprised that it isn’t cracked after Liam’s aggressive behavior. He really needs to look into buying whatever phone case Liam has.

 

He’s the only one who didn’t leave after Liam ended the study party early, telling everyone he got an urgent text from Zayn and needed to deal with something urgent. Niall isn’t sure what the text said, but he assumes it has something to do with the case that’s been eating away at all of their minds.

 

“You okay, Li?” He asks, tentatively reaching out to grasp the other boy’s shoulder, mindful of his aggressive behavior. He reaches up to wrap his hand around where Liam is pulling aggressively at his own hair, forcing the brunette to let go of the short strands of hair and guiding his hands back to his sides.

 

“Liam, it’s okay, yeah? He’s alright. You know he just doesn’t like texting when he’s driving,” Niall says, reminding Liam of Zayn’s aversion toward being distracted when he’s on the road. He does his best to keep his voice from wavering, knowing he needs to keep his own tone steady and confident to avoid alarming the other boy further.

 

Liam shakes his head, and though he’s not looking at Niall directly, Niall can see that his eyes are full of shock and distress. “He hasn’t answered his phone in the last hour, Niall. His mom said Zayn told her she was with me, but I haven’t seen him since school earlier. I shouldn’t have had this stupid study party tonight, I should’ve been with him. What if he’s not safe? It’s all my fault.”

 

Niall shushes him, wrapping his arms around his distressed friend to comfort him. “It’s not your fault at all, Liam. I’m sure he’s okay. He may have just gotten in trouble with his parents for lying about why he wasn’t home and got his phone taken away, yeah? He’s okay. We can go over there now if you think it’ll make you feel better,” Niall says, doing his best to calm Liam down.

 

Liam shakes his head at the suggestion, still not meeting Niall’s eye. He’d be up for going to Zayn’s if it weren’t already so late, and he doesn’t want to be a nuissance or risk waking anyone up. “I’ll just call Trisha and see if he’s come home yet. I don’t want to go over there and make a scene.”

 

“We’ll call her tomorrow morning if we don’t see him at school, okay? He’s alright, trust me Liam. Let his parents deal with him for now,” Niall assures him. Liam is hesitant to follow Niall’s instructions, something making him feel uneasy at the blonde’s adamance on leaving Zayn alone, but he nods along anyway, albeit unwillingly.

 

“I’ll just shoot him one last text, just in case,” he promises Niall, unlocking his phone where it’s already displaying his messages toward Zayn. He shoots a quick “Please text me that you’re okay, alright? Just wanna make sure you’re safe,” before his eyes wander over to the last text message Zayn sent him before he went missing in action, forgetting to tilt the phone away from Niall’s prying eyes.

 

**_Get everyone out of your house! It’s not safe!!_ **

 

 

.

 

“Jared Gleski.”

“What?” Mark asks, looking up from the kitchen stove to where his son is standing in the kitchen doorway, arms crossed.

“Jared Gleski. He’s your new suspect for the case,” Louis says as he walks over to the island in their kitchen and grabs an apple from the fruit bowl, tossing it back and forth before biting into it.

 

“What are you on about?” His dad asks, seemingly uninterested. “Is this just another kid at school you’ve been having conflicts with? Don’t think Coach Jensen hasn’t been letting me know of your antics during tryouts.”

 

Louis rolls his eyes as he finishes chewing his bite before speaking up again.

 

“He tried to roofie a girl at a party over the summer. That same girl happens to be the one nailed to the set of my play,” he says, watching in amusement as his dad turns away from the eggs and bacon sizzling on the stove to look at his son, interest piqued. “The same set he helped build.”

 

“Yeah?” His dad asks, crossing his own arms and rubbing at his chin with his forefinger as he eyes Louis in thought.

 

“He’s also trying out for the soccer team, conveniently after our best defense player and goalie go missing. Not to mention he’s running specifically for goalie,” Louis says casually, taking another bite into his apple.

 

“Interesting,” Mark muses, and Louis nods at his dad. “Does he have an alibi?”

 

Louis scoffs at his dad, placing the rest of his half-eaten apple in the trash before he slowly makes his way towards the door, “Thought it was your job to be the detective? Especially after you made it clear to stay away from the files.”

 

Mark rolls his eyes at his son, always one for dramatics. “I’ll look into it,” he promises anyway, and Louis hums in reponse before walking out of the kitchen with a wave and a “don’t burn your food! Mom would be upset if you burned the kitchen down again!”

 

Louis hears his dad curse as he exits the kitchen and he fights the urge to laugh.

 

.

 

“Liam!” 

 

Harry’s voice carries throughout the long hallway, rudely knocking Liam out of his intense staring competition with the wall in front of him, mind racing with a hundred thoughts. He’s been standing at Zayn’s locker since he got here, phone in one hand as he stares into oblivion, mind racing with a million thoughts of where the other boy might be. He turns to face the curly-haired lad as he approaches Liam, but is met with surprise when he notices there’s someone else walking in the boy’s shadow.

 

Someone he really doesn’t want to see right now.

 

“What do you two want?” Liam asks, eyes flickering back and forth between Harry and Louis. Louis’ eyes meet his for a moment before they flicker away. Liam is surprised that the other boy isn’t trying to argue with him right now. It’s a rare occurence for the blue eyed boy to not pick a fight with him, especially after their last altercation at their first soccer tryouts.

 

It’s Harry that speaks up first.

 

“Have you heard from Zayn? I texted him last night and haven’t heard back,” he says, shifting his bookbag higher up onto his shoulder as he leans his weight nervously from one foot to the other. Louis bites his lip and looks up at Liam, curious to know his response. Liam’s blood boils with anger at the thought of Louis trying to seem concerned about Zayn’s well-being, considering he’s been nothing but rude to he and Zayn since the incident.

 

“No, I haven’t seen or heard from him either,” he says, holding himself back from shouting _but why the fuck would you care?_ at the two boys in front of him. “I called his mom after he didn’t text me back last night, and apparently he told her he was with me last night, but he wasn’t. I’m worried.”

 

Harry and Louis look at one another briefly before they turn back to face him, but Liam doesn’t miss the worried expressions masking their faces. Their nervous appearances make Liam’s heart drop in his chest.

 

“What?” He asks, when neither of the two boys say anything in return. “Do you two know something?” Although it’s a question, his firm tone of voice makes it sound almost like a demand for them to share what they know.

 

The two look at one another again, eyes squinting and eyebrows lifting and falling as they speak in a mental language Liam always sees them do but never quite understands. He waits impatiently for them to finish deciding what it is they’re trying to decide, crossing his arms defensively.

 

This time it’s Louis who speaks up, addressing Liam when he says, “He was with us yesterday.”

 

“What?” Liam asks, feeling very skeptical and feeling even moreso betrayed by the words. Zayn knows how much he dislikes Louis now after the incident, and he doesn’t understand why the other boy would’ve lied about being with Louis yesterday afternoon, considering Louis is the same reason why Zayn may be thrown in jail and considered an accomplice to murder.

 

Or accomplice to suicide? He’s still trying to wrap his head around things.

 

“Listen, Liam. It’s a long story, yeah? But you have to trust us. We didn’t do anything to Zayn,” Harry promises, his hands coming up to show Liam his surrender. Or is he trying to keep Liam’s aggression at bay? Liam’s not sure, he just knows he feels a mixture of frustration and irritation, “We asked him for help yesterday with-something,” he hesitates, looking briefly at Louis who just nods, encouraging him to continue.

 

“We needed his help after school with some information on the case files. He asked us not to tell you but we haven’t heard from him and we’re worried. He told us he didn’t find anything noteworthy yesterday in the files, but we think he knows something,” Harry says, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth carefully as he assesses Liam’s reaction.

 

And Liam, well. He’s stunned to say the least, but he also doesn’t know whether to believe Harry’s words, especially after his suspicious behavior lately and his sudden interest in re-befriending Louis. He’s more worried about Zayn and his whereabouts, though, and he briefly wonders if the last texts that Zayn sent him the previous night reflect the information he found in the case files that he supposedly withheld himself from mentioning to Louis and Harry. If Zayn shared the information with him but didn’t with Harry or Louis, then he isn’t sure whether or not he should trust the other two.

 

What if Zayn thinks Harry and Louis are responsible? Or what if the information convicts he and Zayn further of being responsible?

 

“And why should I believe what you’re telling me?” Liam asks the two skeptically, eyeing Louis specifically as he continues, “Why would I believe Zayn would help you after everything you’ve accused us of? Do you think this is just some fun game to me, watching a girl die and my own teammates and best friend go missing? For all I know you could think I’m responsible for this, too!”

 

He does his best to keep his voice down to avoid drawing any extra attention to them, but he fails. He wants his words to get through to Louis, who bites his lip as he listens to Liam’s outburst. He wants Louis to understand the hurt he’s felt the past couple of weeks, to feel the frustration the blue-eyed boy has caused him.

 

When Louis finally shakes himself out of his state of shock at Liam’s outburst, he shakes his head and frowns at Liam.

 

“No,” is all he says, getting a curious look from both he and Harry.

 

“No?” Harry asks, prompting Louis to continue further.

 

“No,” Louis replies firmly, though he nods at Liam when he says, “You wouldn’t harm Zayn, that I know for sure.”

 

Liam scoffs, but his heart flutters at the truth of Louis’ words. He’d never harm the boy, ever, but he wouldn’t harm anyone, something he’s been trying to convince the other boy of for weeks now.

 

“I would never harm anyone,” Liam repeats firmly. “And I’m disappointed that it took Zayn going missing for you to finally think I’m not responsible for this shit.” Louis’ eyes don’t leave the floor, unable to meet Liam’s gaze.

 

Harry eyes the two of them carefully, taking advantage of the brief silence after Liam’s statement to speak up and grab Liam’s attention.

 

“Meet us in the choir room after school today. We have something we need to show you,” he says.

 

Liam raises an eyebrow, crossing his arms defensively as he eyes the other boy skeptically, “And why should I do that?”

 

Louis rolls his eyes, crossing his own arms as he moves to take a step forward. Harry reaches an arm out to keep him from getting too close to Liam, giving him a warning glare that Louis rolls his eyes at, but as promised, he doesn’t move any closer to Liam before saying, “If you want to help Zayn and figure out where he is, then you’ll want to help us.”

 

The bell rings throughout the hallway, and students rush around the trio as they close their lockers and head to their respective classrooms to start the day. Liam stays put, however, leaning forward as he drops his voice to a whisper to ask the question he’s been wondering.

 

“How do you know Zayn is missing? What tells you he’s not just late to school or got his phone taken away?” He asks, and although his words are laced with a sliver of hope, he’s very doubtful that Zayn is just in his room locked away and safe.

 

He hears Harry take a sharp intake of breath and Louis sigh before the words he hears next make his heart drop.

 

“Because we asked Waliyha this morning where he was and she said he never came home last night. According to her, he texted them late last night on someone else’s phone saying he was at your place spending the night, and his phone battery died,” Harry says, his own voice barely a whisper to keep anyone around them from overhearing, “And if you haven’t seen or heard from him, then someone’s fucking with us, and we need to figure out who it is.”

 

Liam looks away, his mind in thought. Zayn definitely wasn’t with him last night, so either Zayn was with someone else and lied to his family about it or Zayn is missing and someone truly is messing with their minds. The first one is so unlike Zayn, but he wishes it were true because it would at least guarantee that Zayn is still alive and safe.

 

“Guess we will see you after school, after all,” is all Louis says before the two turn their backs on Liam and head down the hallway in the opposite direction, leaving Liam stranded in the hallway in front of Zayn’s locker, mind once again racing with a million worried thoughts.

 

.

 

“How was he after I left?” Ashton asks Niall quietly during lunch, careful not to grab the attention of either Liam or Cindy who are seated across from them in a heated debate about what the quality of cafeteria food should be. Niall is pretty certain Cindy isn’t that passionate about cafeteria food since she always brings her own food to snack on, but instead believes her antics are a way of distracting Liam from Zayn’s lack of presence, something that’s been concerning the group all day.

 

It’s not that it’s unlike Zayn to miss a day of school. In fact, it’s almost normal for the boy to shut everyone out in order to take time for himself and heal when he’s feeling particularly anxious or stressed. But it’s unlike him to be ignoring them in such a terrifying setting for them all without at least a text saying he’s okay and lying about his whereabouts. On top of that, Niall has never known Zayn to ignore Liam, even when he gets in one of his moods. If anything, he always turns to Liam for help. The three of them have known about Liam and Zayn’s dilemma for the longest now, having watched the two grow out of their childhood friendship and into a state of love and pining toward the other. They’ve had their money placed on when the two will finally come to their senses, but Niall’s not so sure it’ll happen any time soon.

 

He snaps out of his thoughts and answers Ashton with a sigh, “Not too well, obviously. Poor guy almost had a panick attack, I think.” He shoves a carrot into his mouth as his eyes never waver from Liam’s face. The other boy is clearly invested in his conversation with Cindy, hands moving in wide gestures as his voice speeds up like it always done when he’s excited or passionate about something.

 

“Poor guy,” Ashton mutters, shaking his head before tipping it back to take a long jug from his chocolate milk carton. 

 

Niall takes advantage of Liam’s distracted state before he drops his voice further into a whisper for only Ashton hear, “Apparently last night Zayn told Liam that his house wasn’t safe. What do you think that means?”

 

He watches Ashton’s collected face turn into one of confusion, “When was this? I thought he’s been m.i.a.?” 

 

Niall shakes his head, “Before he went off the radar he texted it to Liam.”

 

Ashton shrugs, “You think maybe it’s about the sheriff?”

 

Niall raises an eyebrow at Ashton, voice laced with skepticism as he asks, “You think the sheriff could be behind this?”

 

Ashton shrugs, taking another sip of his milk. He opens his mouth to respond to Niall, but before he can he gets cut off by Cindy.

 

“Oy, can you two stop whispering unless you’d like to include us all in this conversation? Thanks,” Cindy says sarcastically, cutting Liam’s rant off and having him turn to look curiously at the pair.

 

Niall and Ashton look at one another, silently agreeing to end their conversation and save it for later.

 

.

 

“What’s on these papers that’s so important for me to look at?” Liam asks, annoyed. He’s standing in the choir room with Louis and Harry, who are seated on the same end of a long table he doesn’t recall ever being in this room when they use it for their lunch meetings. There are manila folders and crinkled papers scattered all over the rectangular surface of the table which he assumes are from Bella, Calum and Ethan’s respective cases. He’s hesitant to look at them, his dad having warned him in the past when he’d go snooping within his own home that it’s illegal to look at government criminal records. He isn’t sure why or how Louis has these copies, but he definitely knows his attainment of them was not approved by Mark.

 

“These are copies of my dad’s files,” Louis tells him, passing Bella’s coroner report over to Liam for him to look over, and despite the seriousness of his next words, he sounds almost cheery as he says, “and if the sheriff somehow miraculously finds out from his son that these copies are in my posession, his son won’t live to see another day.”

 

“Louis!” Harry hisses, shoving Louis in his side with a pointy elbow, causing the blue eyed boy to hiss and thump his hand across Harry’s face. Harry’s eyes narrow and he surges forward to slap Louis, who laughs and outstretches his leg to keep Harry away from him. Liam rolls his eyes at the two, clearing his throat to successfully gain their attention back. He’s not here to watch two grown boys fight like children.

 

“Sorry,” Harry mutters, readjusting his hair with a quick toussle to his curls as he leans back in chair and eyes Liam sheepishly. Liam resists the urge to roll his eyes again.

 

“He started it, anyway,” Louis mutters, causing Harry to scoff. Before the two can go back to arguing, however, Liam cuts them off.

 

“He said it was a suicide,” Liam blurts out, successfully grabbing their attention. They immediately stop bickering and turn to look at him curiously, their interests piqued.

 

“What?” They both say in conjunction, eyeing Liam wearily.

 

 _It’s like they have the attention span of toddlers_ , Liam briefly thinks.

 

Liam rolls his eyes, taking a seat at the table across from them. “Before he went missing. Zayn sent me a text saying it was a suicide, and he’s not wrong. I’ve looked at these photos for two seconds and I could tell you that easily.”

 

“What?! How?” Louis asks, snatching the papers away from Liam to get a good look at it himself. His eyes graze over the numerous cuts littering Bella’s body in the photos, his confused facial expression unwavering. He slides the photo to his right so that Harry can get a look as well, but neither of them are able to see how it could possibly have been a suicide.

 

“Why would she have left so many cuts on herself though? That’s just sick,” Louis says, eyeing Liam wearily.

 

“Look at her arms. The deepest cuts on her body are on her forearms, and the cuts are shorter than the ones everywhere else on her body, meaning there were probably different tools used to create them. If you look closely you can see she has scars all over her wrists. I definitely think she was cutting herself, most likely with a razor,” Liam says, pointing at the said features of Bella’s body. Harry and Louis look at where Liam’s finger is pointed doubtfully, but they’re unable to deny the possible truth of what Liam is pointing out.

 

Harry clears his throat, “I’m not going to lie, I was wondering why the coroner said she likely died around 3:00 pm, but your play wasn’t until 7:00 pm and she was still bleeding from her neck.”

 

Liam nods, “The killer must’ve added the other cuts to disguise that it was a suicide. We learned in anatomy that you can bleed up until about ten hours after your death if new wounds are made to the body. After that, the blood thickens in the capillaries since the heart isn’t pumping anymore and can’t move the blood throughout the body.”

 

Louis stares at Liam incredulously, “That sounds-“

 

“Morbid,” Harry finishes for him, suddenly feeling nauseous.

 

“There’s no bruises on her body, either,” Liam continues, scanning the picture again briefly as he remembers things he’s learned from watching murder investigations shows with his dad growing up. “If someone was trying to kill her, don’t you think she would’ve fought back and tried to save herself? There’s no sign of force.”

 

“There’s a bruise on the side of her forehead,” Harry points out, pointing to the marred skin of Bella’s face.

 

Liam regards the bruise briefly before he shakes his head, “Possibly from falling over or hitting something after she died. If someone caused that bruise, there’d be another one somewhere else on her face from them trying to grab her by her head, or some on her arms and legs from them trying to force her around. It’s highly unlikely that someone else caused that bruise.”

 

“Wow,” Harry breathes, amazed at Liam’s ability to figure this out so quickly, especially after he and Louis have spent the past week trying to figure everything out.

 

“Why do you think Zayn didn’t tell us?” Louis asks, voice wavering with uncertainty.

 

Liam shrugs, because he really isn’t sure why Zayn wouldn’t have mentioned it to them if he had agreed to help them in the first place.

 

“Probably because he thought you’d still think he or Liam had something to do with it,” Harry mutters, making Louis frown. He doesn’t deny Harry’s claim, which visibly irritates Liam, but he does his best to brush it off.

 

As much as he wants to know who the kidnapper is and figure out what their motive is, he’s only here because he wants to know where Zayn is. Otherwise he wouldn’t be helping Louis at all, considering Louis has done anything but help Liam the past couple weeks, causing more stress than any high school student could even imagine. He just wants his best friend back, wants to make sure that the other boy is safe from harm.

 

“We’ve tried to figure out who did this, but we haven’t figured out a motive,” Harry says suddenly, breaking Liam out of his thoughts. “What ties Bella, Calum, Ethan and Zayn all together?”

 

“I’m not sure,” Liam says, right as Louis says, “I thought they all had some sort of connection to me?”

 

Harry shakes his head doubtfully, “Anyone but us three knows that Zayn hasn’t been close to you after your accusations. So I’m not sure him going missing would be because of you.”

 

Louis sits back in his seat, shoulders sagging as he thinks for a moment, “Do you think it’s because he knows too much?”

 

Liam stares at him, puzzled. “Too much? As in him knowing it was a suicide?”

 

“Well, yeah,” Louis says, as if the answer to Liam’s question is obvious, but Liam shakes his head skeptically. “If he didn’t tell you all, then there’s no one else who knows. He texted me last night saying he needed to talk to me immediately and mentioned he thinks it was a suicide, but I have a feeling he didn’t text anyone else about it.” He debates whether or not he should mention to Louis or Harry that Zayn also texted him telling him his house wasn’t safe, but decides against it for now.

 

“He only told me,” Liam says again, mostly to reassure himself, although he sounds unsure. According to Waliyha, Zayn texted his family to let them know he’d be at Liam’s for the night from someone else’s phone. If he texted them last night, who’s to say he didn’t text anyone else? Or tell the person he was with, assuming he was with someone else last night.

 

“Didn’t you have that study party for the AP Lit exam last night, though?” Harry asks pointedly, his forehead creasing as he looks at Liam questioningly, “Did you mention that Zayn thought it was a suicide to anyone? Or maybe someone saw the text?”

 

Liam pales at the idea of it, muttering a quiet “fuck” that concerns both Harry and Louis. He pulls out his phone as he says, “I just mentioned that Zayn needed to talk to me about the case and kicked everyone out. Niall stayed back, but Zayn sent me a text right after telling me my house wasn’t safe.”

 

“What?” Louis practically shrieks, snatching the phone out of Liam’s hand as Liam finishes pulling up the screen with he and Zayn’s text messages. He tilts the phone so that Harry can read the message, as well. 

 

“Your house isn’t safe? What does that mean?” Louis asks, reading over Zayn’s text message. “Do you think someone who was there last night was responsible?”

 

Liam shakes his head, “I didn’t really mention to Zayn everyone who was coming, just a few people.”

 

Harry knaws on his bottom lip, looking concerned, “Maybe your family?”

 

“What about them?” Liam asks defensively, his heart dropping at what he thinks Harry is implying.

 

“Do you think he may have meant someone in your house isn’t safe to be around?” Harry asks hesitantly, unsure how Liam might take the words. Sure enough, Liam’s face twists in offense at Harry’s words.

 

“No, there’s no way,” he assures, “My family wouldn’t do anything like this. You can’t possibly believe any of them could be-“

 

“-That’s enough,” Louis interrupts, holding his hands between Harry and Liam to cut their discussion before it turns into a full blown argument, “We don’t know what Zayn’s text meant, so we’ll just leave it for now. For all we know, he could be referring to your dad being the sheriff and at risk of some negative attention. We don’t know for sure,” he reminds them. “For now, let’s just try and focus on Bella’s death.”

 

He draws their attention back to Bella’s coroner report. So far, it’s been the most helpful out of the files in assisting their quest to figure out the person responsible for the kidnappings, assuming that the two cases are related, which Louis strongly believes they are. He eyes the picture wearily, swallowing the lump in his throat as he asks the question he’s been wondering since Liam first mentioned the likeliness of her death being a suicide.

 

“Why would she commit suicide the night of the play? Of all nights?” He asks. He thinks back to the day they spent practicing, wondering if maybe he said or did something that could’ve upset Bella. Louis knows he was a little hard on everyone, especially since he was so stressed just hours before the play, but he can’t recall doing anything that would’ve upset her so terribly that she would’ve killed herself. He tries to think of anything he may have witnessed throughout the day, but he has no luck with that either.

 

“Maybe something happened that we don’t know? She could’ve been threatened or had a lot going on,” Harry says, shrugging.

 

“Or maybe,” Liam interjects, “It was unintentional. If she has a ton of these cuts and scars then it means it’s been ongoing, which means it could’ve been accidental.”

 

Louis frowns, confused. “Do people actually do that, though? Cut themselves just to release some tension?”

 

Before Liam can say anything, Harry speaks up with a sad, “You’d be surprised. A lot of people who are used to cutting will do it to release some nervous tension or built up frustration. It may have been her way of dealing with things.” Liam dips his head in agreement, but Louis can’t help but feel uneasy at the thought of his words possibly causing Bella to feel pressured or stressed enough to harm herself.

 

“You’re saying maybe the nerves of doing the show so last minute got to her and she needed some relief?” He asks quietly, unsure.

 

“All of that is possible,” Liam says, nodding his head along to Harry and Louis’ points. There’s so many possibilities as to what may have led Bella to commit suicide, whether it were intentional or not, and unfortunately it’s something they’ll never know the answer to. He tells them as much.

 

“Unless she’s left a note behind, we can never really know,” he clarifies. “But what we can try and figure out is, who could possibly have found her body and decided it was a good idea to nail her to the set for everyone to see?”

 

“Surely it couldn’t have been an impulsive decision, right?” Harry says. “If our original theory is right, about whoever having done this being the same person who took the nails out of the first balcony-“

 

“-Wait what?” Louis interjects, confused. “The person who did this did what?”

Harry quickly catches him up to speed about the theory the group came up with at Liam’s house the weekend after the play, having forgotten that Louis wasn’t present when they decided that whoever was likely responsible for Bella’s death likely took the nails out of the first balcony to make it collapse. Louis looks doubtful as he takes in Harry’s words.

 

“But why would someone just hang onto a bunch of nails and wait for someone to conveniently drop dead so that they can use them to hang someone up?” Louis asks incredulously. Liam and Harry eye each other briefly, shocked by Louis’ statement and the obvious truth to it. Unable to argue, they simply listen as Louis continues, “That’s looking too much into it, no one is that smart. I don’t think whoever took the nails out of the first balcony is the same person who put her up to the second one. I think it’s purely coincidence.”

 

“Then who would have removed the nails, just someone who was trying to sabotage your play?” Liam asks. 

 

Louis waves his hand dismissively, “Pranks and shit happen all of the time.”

 

Liam rolls his eyes, feeling his blood boil with anger. “So it’s just a prank when you think someone else may have done it, but bloody murder when it’s your own friend who you think did it? Ridiculous,” he mutters.

 

Harry sees Louis’ face fall, and while he doesn’t think Louis will argue back with Liam after hearing those words, he interjects before the two could dispute any further.

 

“Unless the person was trying to harm Cindy?” That catches both Louis and Liam’s attention.

 

“Why would someone go after Cindy?” Liam asks, genuinely puzzled. Cindy has always been incredibly sweet to everyone she comes into contact with, and she always respects others and minds her own business. He doesn’t know of anyone that would have bad blood with her. He makes a mental note to ask her about any conflicts she may have had with anyone before the night of the play, just to be sure.

 

“Maybe because she was the star of the big school play?” Harry suggests. Louis hums in thought while Liam just shakes his head in disbelief.

 

“I can’t think of anyone who would be upset by Cindy playing Juliet, though,” Liam says.

 

“I can’t think of anyone either,” Louis says, eyeing the coroner’s report on the table. “Anyone but Bella, at least. She’s the only person I can think of who would be upset about Cindy getting the role, but I don’t think she’d do something like that.”

 

Harry shrugs idly, “I hate to speak ill of the dead, but it’s possible. We don’t have a way of asking her or finding out, but we shouldn’t rule it out.”

 

Liam and Louis nod in agreement, silently agreeing to let it go for now. Soon enough, the three of them are turning back to the files in front of them, rereading the information they practically have memorized by now due to how often they’ve looked at the reports and have tried to decode the case. When the large window in the choir room stops reflecting light onto the walls around them, signalling that its late in the afternoon, they pack up the files into some spare manila folders Louis stole from his dad’s office and agree to call it a night.

 

Harry offers to give Liam a ride home since it’s too late for him to catch a bus, and Louis was planning on staying behind a little before heading home in his own car, but Liam stops walking alongside Harry in the halls when he hears his name being called from the doorway to the choir room they just left behind. He turns around to face Louis, slightly confused but also annoyed.

 

Just because they’ve spent the last few hours working together on this case, Liam hasn’t decided to forgive him instantly. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to bring himself to forgive him, having felt so betrayed and frustrated by his friend for weeks. So when Louis jogs across the hall to catch up to him, he’s not exactly the most interested in hearing what Louis has to say to him.

 

“I just wanted to say,” Louis starts hesitantly once he’s standing in front of he and Harry, though his words are clearly directed toward Liam only, “That I don’t believe it’s you. I did at one point, and I’m sorry I did, but even before I talked to you this morning, I told my dad about Jared.” Liam gives him a conflicted look, but before he can ask what he’s thinking Louis answers him, “Zayn mentioned you two have been looking into him being the primary suspect, and I think it’s possible. More possible then you two being responsible. I trust your guys’ judgements, contrary to what I may have shown the night of the play. I really am sorry for dragging you under the bus, Liam.”

Liam looks at Harry briefly, before facing the floor, unable to meet Louis’ eye.

 

“I’m not going to lie and say I accept your apology, because I don’t. If you think you can accuse your own friends of sabotaging you and murdering someone, then figure out it wasn’t them and expect them to forgive you easily, then I’m sorry to say that’s not how things work,” Liam tells him quietly. Louis bites his lip nervously, nodding at Liam’s words. Harry eyes the two of them curiously, not sure what to expect after hearing Liam’s response. He stays quiet, though, wanting the two to figure this out on their own.

 

“I know that, I do. And I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” Louis says, his words firm despite his tone wavering slightly. 

 

Liam shakes his head, stepping away from Louis and motioning for Harry to do so also.

 

“The only thing you could do to get my forgiveness is to find Zayn safe and sound. That’s all I care about,” he answers Louis truthfully, and with that he’s walking away from Louis, Harry following behind hesitantly, but not after giving Louis a quick shrug and a nod, a silent “he’ll come around” being conveyed between the two.

 

 

.

 

 

“Liam? Son, is that you?” He hears upon walking through the front door of his home, toeing his shoes off in the foyer before following his dad’s voice into the living room. He was planning on heading straight to his room to get some rest after his long day, but when he’s met with his parents sitting worriedly on the couch in front of the television, a feeling of unexplicable dread comes over him.

“What’s going on?” He asks, sitting down in the armchair in the corner. His parents look at one another, briefly exchanging worried looks, before his mom speaks up.

 

“Sweetie,” Karen starts, standing up and coming over to sit on the armrest of Liam’s seat, leaning an arm around her only son and pulling him into her side. He’s always found his mother’s touch comforting, but right now he’s worried about what she’s going to say.

 

“Liam, son,” Geoff says, speaking up after Karen remains silent for a few moments, “Zayn’s family called the station this afternoon to file a missing person’s report. They said he never came home last night and his sister and teachers didn’t see him at school. They haven’t seen him or heard from since.”

 

Liam’s heart drops, any last bit of hope he had that Zayn was safe suddenly gone.

 

“They said he got a text from an unknown number saying he was with you last night, but they said they have your number saved and they know it wasn’t you,” Karen clarifies, rubbing a hand down her son’s back to comfort him, her own eyes tearing up at the clear distress on her son’s face.

 

“We just need to know, do you have any idea where Zayn could be right now?” Geoff asks, and Liam shakes his head no, trying to stay composed but failing. He leans further into his mother’s side, unable to speak as he’s suddenly overcome with fear, his heart racing a mile a minute in his chest.

 

“Oh, honey, I’m sure he’s okay,” Karen says, clearly sensing his fear and pressing a kiss to Liam’s unruly hair. She doesn’t sound very sure, not with tears falling from her own eyes, but Liam holds on to the slight hope her words carry, looking at his dad for any sign that this could be a joke.

 

“We’ll find him, alright son?” Geoff reassures, standing up from his own seat and kneeling in front of the armchair Liam and his mother are occupying. He presses a kiss to Liam’s forehead, ruffling the boy’s hair. “I promise you, now that I’m back on the case, I’ll find him.”

 

“You’re what?” Liam asks, suddenly shocked by his father’s words. 

 

Geoff nods, “You and Zayn are no longer suspects. Mark apparently got a tip saying there may be another student responsible. They ran a few tests and you and Zayn’s DNA didn’t match the DNA on the nails or Bella’s body. You two are no longer suspects, and there’s a new group of primary suspects being looked at for the case.”

 

“Who are they?” Liam asks, sitting up straight in his seat, wiping away the wetness in his eyes.

 

Geoff tsks, glancing at Karen before looking back at Liam. “I can’t share that with you, Liam, you know that, but Mark and I are going to work together to get this person to confess and find out where Zayn is, alright?” He assures, his brown eyes staring firmly into Liam’s. “Right now I just need you to stay safe, okay? You can go to school and stay for practice, but no more coming home so late. If you need to study with friends, you can do that here and invite them over. Until this is all over I want you home where I know you’re safe, okay?

 

Liam sighs and nods, leaning into his mother’s warmth once again. He doesn’t like the idea of basically being stuck at home, but he knows it’s for the best that he doesn’t put himself further in harm’s way.

 

His parents seem satisfied with his answer, and he lets himself indulge in their warm embrace a little longer. As old as he is, he will never not appreciate the comfort of his parents and their touch.

 

They’ll find Zayn. He knows they will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you all enjoyed it! Please don’t hate me lol  
> As always, I really appreciate everyone’s feedback and love to hear your theories


	7. Jared

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eeeeep

Liam is shaken from his deep slumber by a hard pressure against his arm and a familiar voice chanting his name. He grimaces and shuts his eyes, unable to keep them open against the heaviness of his eyelids. His alarm hasn’t sounded, unless it already did and he shut it off in a state of being half-asleep, but the lack of sunlight emitting through his sheer curtains tells him that it’s still not his usual time to wake up.

 

He hears his dad calling his name again and he groans, shoving one of the extra pillows on his duvet over his head to block out the noise. He’s always been a morning person, loves getting an early headstart to his day while the sun is rising and the birds start chirping. He hasn’t slept well in weeks though, and now that he’s finally managed to drift off into a deep slumber for a couple of hours, he’s really not ready to get up to go to school.

 

“Don’t wanna go to school today,” he mumbles to his dad, the pillow he has shoved over his head muffling his words. He feels the mattress shift and feels warmth emitting from his dad’s body as he sits down next to his son, carefully and gently prying the soft pillow away from Liam’s face.

 

“Son,” he says, pressing a hand to the boy’s cheek to direct his focus toward him, “I need you to wake up, Liam. They’ve found Zayn.”

 

The words take a few moments to settle in Liam’s head, who’s mind feels foggy with thoughts and the need to sleepsleepsleep, but soon he’s blinking his eyes up at his father and slowly moving to sit up, head pounding at the lack of rest he’s gotten. His father nods, his lips pressed tightly together and his eyes reflecting a hint of sadness that has Liam suddenly wide awake. Geoff brushes his hands through his son’s hair, who’s slowly sitting up so his back is against the headboard, blinking at the clock on his nightstand that’s only an hour away from chiming his school alarm.

 

“Is he okay?” He asks, the words a slow drawl as his fingers come up naturally to his lips so that he can bite at his nails for relief, nervously taking in his dad’s expression. He’s afraid of what he’s about to hear, heart beating rapidly in his chest as his eyes blink repeatedly in order to prevent tears from pooling. His dad gives him a sad look that makes his heart feel like it’s falling in his chest.

 

Geoff visibly hesitates, not sure how to best tell Liam about the state that his son’s best friend is in, but Liam’s pleads him to hurry up with a murmured, “Dad, please, is he okay?” He sighs, brushing Liam’s hair away from his forehead and failing to meet his son’s eye.

 

“He’s currently at the hospital. They found him unconscious in his car not far from the school last night. It wasn’t- it wasn’t a pretty sight,” Geoff admits, his hands gently prying Liam’s hands away from his mouth, silently scolding his son for biting his nails.

 

Liam sucks in a loud breath at the words, his heart pounding in his ears. “What happened? Will he be okay?” He rushes out, urgently wanting to know the answers. His fingers twitch in his dad’s hold but he reluctantly relaxes his arms so that they can fall at his sides on the duvet.

 

Geoff cups the back of his neck and pulls Liam into his side, rubbing soothing circles into his son’s back to calm him down, “They aren’t sure. One of the officers was doing his nightly rounds and found his car tipped over onto the sidewalk. When he investigated, he discovered there was still a body inside.” Liam feels his entire body freeze at the words, his skin visibly paling as his thoughts go wild. Zayn hasn’t been seen since he left Louis and Harry at the school two nights ago. If he was found only a couple of hours ago, that means he’s likely been unconscious for about 36 hours now. 

 

“His parents have been informed and they’re with him,” Geoff continues, doing his best to reassure his son of Zayn’s well being, despite not being sure of how well the boy may be. “His injuries were pretty fatal due to the intensity of the crash, and we’re trying to get footage of the street cameras to see what really happened, but it’s not pretty.”

 

Liam shoves the covers off of him, pulling away from his dad’s touch and relying on his newfound energy to push himself off of his warm mattress.

 

“Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s go,” he says. His feet hit the ground with a thud as he heads over to his dresser, throwing a pair of loose sweatpants on over his boxers and a wornout sweatshirt over his baggy t-shirt. He rummages through his sock drawer while his dad clears his throat from where he’s still sitting on the edge of Liam’s bed, looking for a pair of socks that aren’t mismatched.

 

“Liam, we’re not going to the hospital,” he says firmly.

 

Liam fails to grab a pair of socks that aren’t mismatched, instead choosing the first two his hands can grab and leaning against his dresser as he hops in place to shove them onto his feet. He eyes his dad while trying to put the garments on, confused. “What do you mean? Zayn’s there, of course we’re going.”

 

“Liam,” Geoff says, glancing pointedly at the clock placed on Liam’s nightstand and back at his son, “You have school in an hour. You can go after school but I am not taking you to that hospital right now.”

 

“Why not?” Liam asks. He sounds like a little kid whining petulantly at his father, but he couldn’t care less. His body is itching to see Zayn, to know what kind of condition the other boy is in and to know that he’s safe. Every ounce of his being is calling for the other boy, to know he’s okay. There’s no way he can get through a day of school knowing Zayn is in a hospital unconscious and in critical condition.

 

“Liam,” his dad says pointedly, “You’re going to school and that’s final. You’re not skipping class to see Zayn, you can visit him after you’re done with class.”

 

“But why not now?!” Liam exclaims, not bothering to lower his voice despite knowing the rest of his family is still asleep. “You said it yourself he’s in a critical condition! What if I wait until school is over and it’s already too late?” His voice starts to choke up as he finishes his chain of thought, “What if I never get to see him again? Dad, we have to go.”

 

Geoff sighs, eyeing the floor before lifting himself off of the bed and walking toward Liam. His body is moving slowly and his shoulders are hunched, telling Liam his dad likely stayed up late working on the cases before finding out about Zayn’s status and rushing to tell Liam. He places a hand on Liam’s shoulder, pulling the boy in for a hug that Liam resents immediately falling into.

“I will drive you myself to see him after school, but you will not go now, do you understand me? You promised me last night you would stay safe, and I’m not letting you out of this house this early in the morning in this state, do you understand me?” Geoff asks, his words laced with a strict tone that tells Liam he has no room to argue.

Liam feels his entire body shake with rage at his father’s words. He knows his dad just wants him safe, knows that he’s just looking out for his own family’s well being, but Zayn needs him right now.

Hell, _he_ needs _Zayn_ right now.

He shoves his dad away from him, eyeing him angrily. “You’re the worst,” Liam tells him. “You won’t even take me, your own son, to see his best friend in the hospital knowing it could potentially be the last time I see him?”

 

Geoff’s face falls, looking at his son sadly. He opens his mouth to say something, but Liam doesn’t bother to listen as he walks out of the room and into the attached bathroom, shutting the door angrily behind him. He leans against it and drops to the floor, letting out a shaky sigh. He wraps his arms around his knees, breathing in and out deeply to calm himself down.

 

He’s never regretted not getting his driver’s license this much. He needs to figure out a way to get to the hospital and see Zayn. He needs to know the other boy is safe, and he needs to know now.

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

The first thing Liam does when he gets to school is find the first person he can think of with a car and a license.

“I need a ride to the hospital, now,” he tells Ashton. He eyes Ashton seriously, doing his best to get across how urgent the situation is, and Ashton doesn’t ask any questions before he’s leading Liam towards the school’s parking lot just minutes before the first bell of the day is to sound off.

Liam has seen Ashton’s car many times before, since he’s usually the one giving Liam a ride home from soccer practice. It used to be Louis, but now that the two haven’t been the closest of friends, Ashton has offered to drive him home despite living in the opposite direction of the school than Liam’s house. He’s used to seeing the old, beat up corolla many times before, but the state of Ashton’s car shocks him when he sees it.

“What happened to your car?” Liam asks, running his fingers over the dented bumper as Ashton unlocks the car and opens the door to the driver’s seat. Ashton just shrugs, looking uncomfortable. Liam regrets asking about the dent in the first place, knowing Ashton doesn’t come from a very financially stable family and probably doesn’t have the money to fix such a badly damaged car. He should have just shut his mouth and appreciated that Ashton decided to skip class and give him a ride in the first place.

 

“Hit the garage door on accident the other day, meant to put it in reverse but I was still in drive,” Ashton says sadly. Liam grimaces at the words but hastily gets into the passenger’s seat, not wanting to waste any more time.

 

“So what’s wrong? Why can’t you just go to the school nurse’s office?” Ashton asks once they’re driving off, glancing briefly at Liam before turning his attention back to driving.

 

“My dad said they found Zayn this morning, he’s in the hospital and I need to see him,” Liam says, his foot tapping impatiently. He’s all for getting somewhere safe and sound, but he can’t help but groan internally at how slow Ashton is driving considering there’s barely any traffic on the roads.

 

The car screeches as Ashton comes to an abrupt halt at a red light, sending both he and Liam forward in their seats. Liam winces as his hands come up to stop his body from colliding into the dashboard, the seatbelts of Ashton’s old car too stretched out to do an effective job of keeping them back. Ashton looks at him sheepishly, before he mutters a “What? Are you serious? He’s okay?”

 

Liam nods, still a little shaken up from Ashton almost crashing into the car ahead of them. “Y-yeah,” he stutters out, nodding at Ashton who’s eyes are widened in surprise.

 

“Holy shit, bro, that’s amazing. So they found him?” He asks, confirming Liam’s words, to which Liam nods again before muttering a “light’s green,” to let Ashton know to drive. Ashton curses underneath his breath as the car behind them honks before pressing the accelerator quickly to catch up with the cars in front of him, making the car jolt once again.

 

Liam holds onto the sides of his seat with wide eyes for the rest of the ride, suddenly regretting not asking Harry for a ride instead. Ashton’s never been a good driver, and he’s worried he’ll need to be enroute to the hospital for other reasons by the time they actually get there.

 

 

.

 

 

“What do you mean he’s missing?” Harry hisses at Louis, who busies himself with locking the door of the choir room behind him before turning around to face Harry. They have a five minute break between classes and Louis had searched for Harry frantically before dragging the taller boy into their usual spot in the choir room.

“My dad went to his house first thing in the morning to arrest him. His parents said he didn’t come home the night before,” Louis says, visibly stressed.

“I guess that explains why I didn’t see him in music history today,” Harry says, crossing his arms as he looks at Louis thoughtfully. “I figured he just got arrested, though? I don’t know if it’s just a coincidence that he goes missing the day after you tell your dad he’s a suspect, or if there’s more to that.”

Louis shakes his head, “This is ridiculous.” Before he can add on, Harry continues.

“He has to be guilty, Louis. If he’s the lead suspect and someone else is responsible for everyone going missing, there’s no way they’d kidnap him too,” Harry says pointedly. “He had to have run because he’s guilty. No smart kidnapper would willingly kidnap the one person who could take the blame for him.”

Louis sighs, rubbing at his temples with his fingers, “Haz, I don’t think it’s that simple.”

Harry looks at him, slightly frustrated but moreso confused, “What do you mean?”

 

Louis looks around and sighs, unable to meet Harry’s eye. He knows they’re alone in this room, but it doesn’t stop him from dropping his voice to a quiet murmur when he says, “They found Zayn this morning.”

Harry gasps, stepping closer to make sure he heard Louis right, “They did? Is he okay? Does Liam know?”

 

Louis shrugs, “I assume his dad may have told him, but no, Haz, he’s not okay.” He let’s out a shaky breath and wraps his arms around his middle defensively, “He’s not okay and it’s all my fault for throwing him under the bus.”

Harry looks at Louis sadly, hesitating for a moment before pulling the older boy into his arms, “This isn’t your fault, Louis. Was it wrong of you to throw Liam and Zayn under the bus? Yes. But was Zayn’s disappearance your fault? No.”

“You don’t know that,” Louis murmurs into Harry’s chest. Harry can feel Louis’ tears staining his shirt but doesn’t comment on it, instead holds the shorter boy closer to himself.

“Just like you don’t know if it was your fault, okay? You’re doing the best you can now to make up for it, yeah?” Harry says, running a hand through Louis’ soft hair and resting his chin on the other boy’s head.

He feels Louis nod against him right as the school bell rings, signifying that they need to get to their next class. Harry sighs but manages to pull himself away from Louis eventually, grabbing the other boy’s hand before leading them to their shared history class.

 

And if Harry holds onto his hand all the way to and throughout their history class, neither of the boys comment on it.

 

 

.

 

 

“Why aren’t you in school?” Trisha asks the second she and Liam spot one another in the hallway outside of Zayn’s room. He and Ashton spent a good half hour at the front desk just trying to figure out where Zayn’s room was located, and the second he was out of the elevator that led them to the right floor, he spotted Zayn’s mom and immediately heaved a sigh of relief.

 

He gives her a sheepish smile, approaching her slowly with Ashton following behind timidly, before she drops her facade and envelopes him in a hug.

 

“Can’t keep you two away from each other even if I wanted to,” she murmurs softly into his hairline, making Liam flush with embarrassment, “Even when he’s unconscious you two somehow manage to find one another.”

 

At those words, Liam pulls away from the hug and gives her a concerned look, “Is he alright? Can I see him?” He pouts for extra measure, hoping she won’t say no to him.

Trisha rolls her eyes but immediately softens at the mention of her son. She places her hand on Liam’s shoulder and leads him in the direction of Zayn’s room wordlessly, motioning for Ashton to follow.

“I won’t lie to you, love. He’s not doing the best, but he’s alive and that’s what matters,” she says sadly. Liam can tell she’s trying to be strong for her family, but her voice wavers as she says the words and her eyes start to glaze with tears. She looks extremely tired and worn out, probably from spending the past two days awake and worrying about her son. He doesn’t miss the cup of coffee in her other hand, likely to keep herself awake until she knows if her son is okay. It makes Liam’s heart ache knowing she’s probably been worried sick about her son and Liam couldn’t even protect him like he promised.

“Is anyone with him right now?” Ashton asks hesitantly, speaking up for the first time since he and Liam reached the hospital.

Trisha nods, “Yaser is in the room with him. I’ve been holed up in the room with him crying since we got here and we agreed it’d probably be best if I stepped out and got some fresh air for a minute.”

They finally reach the door that’s labelled 615, the same number that the lady at the front desk assured Liam and Ashton that Zayn was in. She knocks quietly before opening the door, letting Liam and Ashton step in before following them.

“I brought guests,” Trisha jokes as she closes the door behind her, attempting to lighten the air a bit. 

Liam gasps at the sight before him, taking in the different equipment attached to the boy on the hospital bed before him. Yaser is seated on the edge of Zayn’s bed, mindful of the different tubes and wires poking out as he strokes his son’s hair with a sad expression. There’s always something about seeing Yaser that makes Liam feel like he has a second father, the other man’s eyes reminding him of the comforting ones of his best friend but also having a sheath of protection guarding them. He makes Liam feel welcomed and safe, and Liam’s always admired the way the man carries himself, but seeing his usual strong composure faltering worries Liam even further.

There’s a seat to his right that Trisha takes and another open seat near the window, but Liam can’t bring himself to move, finally facing the reality that Zayn is hurt and injured.

“I’m not even going to ask how you two managed to skip school for this,” Yaser says with a slight shake of his head, but there’s a bit of fondness lacing his words. He gives Liam a knowing look which Liam doesn’t notice, eyes too focused on the young boy still unconscious in the small hospital bed. The heart rate monitor next to the bed is beeping softly, a steady rhythm that doesn’t match with the fast pace of Liam’s own heart racing in his chest. He feels lightheaded and his mouth runs dry, unable to form any words as the sight before him leaves him both nauseous and speechless.

 

Ashton takes a seat in the arm chair, his own mind racing by the conflicted look on his face as his eyes flicker from Zayn’s unconscious body to his worried parents to Liam’s shaking figure.

 

Liam finally manages to get his body to move from its trance, kneeling on the floor next to Zayn’s bed on the opposite side that Yaser is on, taking the other’s boys hand in his and squeezing it softly, a silent promise to find whoever did this to Zayn.

“Will he make it?” He asks quietly after a few moments, debating on whether or not he’ll want to hear the answer to the question.

He hears a choked sob come from Trisha and a soft sigh that Yaser eminates that worries him further, but his eyes stayed glued to Zayn’s face. He looks so peaceful with his eyes closed and soft huffs of breath coming from his parted lips. There’s two tubes hooked to the boy’s nose to help him breathe and a few cuts on the boy’s face, but he still manages to look as angelic as Liam’s used to seeing him look. There’s also an IV attached to the arm that Yaser is holding and a few large bandages that Liam can see through Zayn’s hospital gown.

“They say it’s a miracle he’s still alive considering he was in that state for so long,” Yaser says after a while, placing a kiss to his wife’s cheek and patting her back comfortingly. “They’re not sure of anything else though,” he admits softly, his own eyes blinking back tears.

“He’s strong,” Ashton speaks up from his spot on the other side of the room, making Liam nod.

“Yeah,” Liam agrees, but he’s not sure how convincing he sounds. He brushes a hand across Zayn’s face, eyeing the cuts on the boy’s face curiously. 

He gasps as the image of Bella’s coroner report suddenly flashes in his head, the marks on Zayn’s face almost identical to the shallow cuts that littered her body.

Yaser eyes him curiously for his outburst, so he tries to cover it up with a coughing fit, not wanting to reveal anything. 

“You alright, love? Do you need some water?” Trisha asks worriedly, leaning forward to rest a hand on Liam’s arm reassuringly. Liam shakes his head and brushes it off, giving her a thankful smile before turning his attention back to the marks on Zayn’s body. He tilts Zayn’s face slightly toward his own to get a better look at the marks, wincing at the pain it must have caused the other boy.

 _It could just be a coincidence right?_ He thinks. Zayn’s car flipped over afterall, it’s possible the cuts came from the accident, but the marks look almost identical in length and shallowness to the ones that covered Bella’s body.

 

He makes a mental note to take a picture when he can to send to Louis and Harry to get another opinion, but any doubt he had in his mind that Zayn’s car accident was related to the kidnapping cases is now gone. He feels the blood in his body run cold at the thought.

 

And he thinks he knows exactly who is responsible.

 

 

.

 

 

“Why isn’t Liam here?” Niall asks, though it’s not until after the words have left his mouth that he realizes he already knows the answer to it.

“He hasn’t left Zayn’s hospital room since yesterday. He begged me to drop him off this morning and tell his dad I was taking him to school,” Ashton says with a shake of his head. He’s sitting at the lunch table with Niall and Cindy, the three quietly discussing their annoying teachers before Niall pointed out Liam’s absence.

“Plus,” Ashton adds on, “there’s something that’s been worrying me about Liam.”

Cindy raises a perfectly scultped eyebrow at the words, but it’s Niall that speaks up, “What do you mean?”

Ashton gives the couple a conflicted look, “There’s um,” he hesitates for a moment, pausing to look at the table nervously before looking back at the group, “There’s something that happened, the night of the play, that I never mentioned because I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

Niall sits up in his seat, suddenly intrigued, and Cindy seems interested as well, though slightly nervous to hear what Ashton’s about to say.

“What happened?” Niall asks. “Besides, well, the obvious Bella thing.”

Cindy gives him Niall a look before Ashton continues, “It was when he, Jared and I were helping Zayn rebuild the set.”

He pauses and Niall motions for him to continue, intrigued. Cindy eyes the two nervously, but slowly relaxes in her seat as she waits for Ashton to continue.

“Liam was complaining about Louis and their fight the whole time,” Ashton finally says, lowering his voice so that only the other two can hear, “He said that Louis would get his karma and pay for being such a dick.”

Niall looks at him doubtfully while Cindy speaks up, “Are you saying Liam sabotaged Louis’ play on purpose?” 

Ashton shrugs, though he shakes his head, “I’m not saying that, I’m saying it just rubbed me the wrong way hearing that, but I didn’t think anything of it.”

“Do you think maybe Jared took that as initiative to get revenge on Louis?” Niall asks, biting his lip as he brings up the thought.

Ashton shrugs, “I mean, yeah, maybe? But surely I’m not the only one who thinks Liam’s been acting really obsessive about this whole case lately, especially now that Jared is missing?”

Cindy scoffs, “Liam has every right to be! He was accused of being the main suspect by his own friend and now his other friend is lying unconscious in a hospital bed.”

Niall rubs her back comfortingly before shrugging at Ashton. “Cindy’s right, but, I dunno. Liam has been acting a little strange lately,” he admits, biting his lip.

Cindy looks at him incredulously, “You can’t possibly believe-“

Niall doesn’t say anything, just looks at the table in front of him. Cindy rolls her eyes and scoffs, shrugging Niall’s arm off of her before getting up from their shared lunch table and exiting the cafeteria, not wanting to hear anything more from him.

Niall gives Ashton an irritated look, which Ashton smirks at and says, “Go get your girl, bro.”

Niall rolls his eyes but gets up regardless, heading out of the cafeteria in search of his girlfriend.

 

 

 

.

 

 

“Will you please just listen to me?” Niall pleads, wary of his voice echoing in the empty hallway.

Cindy turns around, “You know you’re no better than Louis, right? You really believe Liam could have something to do with this all?”

Niall rolls his eyes, “Did I say that? No. I just said he’s been acting a little strange lately.”

Cindy rolls her own eyes, but relaxes as she finally approaches Niall. She crosses her arms defensively, and Niall half expects her to start arguing with him again, but she drops her voice to a quiet whisper and looks at him seriously before she responds.

“There’s actually something I need to tell you, about that night,” she admits. Her green eyes start to pool with tears that have Niall immediately concerned, pulling her aside into an empty classroom so that they’re out of earshot of any potential eavesdroppers. He sits on one of the tables in the front of the room, pulling Cindy up to join him.

“What’s wrong?” He asks nervously, “what happened that night?”

She starts sobbing with tears, hiding her face in her hands. Niall’s eyes widen, unsure of how to comfort her, or what the sudden cause of her outburst is, so he pulls her into his side and waits for her to talk on her own. When she finally speaks, her words are shaky and incoherent, and he’s barely able to understand her.

“Hey,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “It’s alright, yeah? Just calm down for a minute and start again from the beginning.”

 

She nods, taking a few moments to breathe and recollect herself. She pulls her hands away from her face, revealing her tear stained cheeks and smeared mascara that Niall attempts to remove but just smears further, making the two of them both snort fondly.

“The night of the play, I texted Bella while I was still in the hospital getting x-rays on my leg,” she admits softly, her voice still shaky as she runs a hand through her long brown hair. She looks down at where her cast is still on her leg, having healed quickly despite how much she avoids using her crutches. Niall nods to encourage her to continue, not wanting to interrupt.

“I thought for sure she was the one who made the balcony collapse, and I even told Liam and Ashton that,” her voice wavers as she hesitates for a moment, but she looks up at Niall sadly, “I wasn’t really nice to her about it. I told her that she’d pay for doing that just so she could take my role in the play. I don’t know what came over me that night but I was so mean to her just because I thought she did it. And then,” She doesn’t continue, though she doesn’t have to for Niall to know that the words that have her so choked up are about Bella’s death later that day.

“But, you didn’t-,” he’s not sure how to ask the question that’s on his mind, but he doesn’t need to for Cindy to understand what he was going to say.

She shakes her head quickly, eyeing Niall with wide eyes, “Of course not! I didn’t hurt her, nor did I put her up to the balcony, I swear.”

Niall nods, letting out a shaky breath, “I believe you,” he tells her. “But we need to tell someone about this, okay?”

Cindy shakes her head, jumping off of the table to face Niall, “No, we can’t tell anyone, Niall! I could become a suspect!”

“Cindy, this is important evidence! You need to tell Liam’s dad! He’ll understand,” Niall says, trying to remain calm, but Cindy just shakes her head in disagreement.

“No one can know about this, okay Niall? I don’t want to be a suspect,” she says, fingers wiping swiftly at a tear that trails down her face.

“You were at the hospital the night of the play! You weren’t actually there and you have an alibi, why are you so afraid of someone knowing?” Niall asks.

“You think I’m happy about the fact that I threatened a girl right before she died? I’m not exactly eager to tell people,” she tells Niall, running a hand through her hair like she always does when frustrated.

Niall shakes his head, jumping off of the table to stand in front of Cindy, “We all say terrible things that we regret. No one is going to hold that against you, and Liam’s dad will understand, so there’s no reason for you to be scared.” He pauses, “unless there’s something else you’re hiding from me?”

She shakes her head, looking at him with wide eyes, “No, Niall, of course not! I told you everything.”

Niall nods, trying not to look doubtful. He relaxes his shoulders and pulls Cindy in for a hug, tucking her face into his neck with a firm hand at the back of her neck.

“I won’t tell anyone, okay? But you have nothing to worry about, you weren’t responsible for Bella’s death, I believe you,” he says reassuringly, running his fingers through her hair gently.

“You do?” She asks, hesitating before wrapping her arms around his beck and relaxing into the embrace.

“I do,” Niall whispers, keeping the words between them despite knowing that no one is around to hear them. “I promise I won’t let anyone try and accuse you of anything, either, okay?”

“Okay,” Cindy replies after a while, the words a quiet murmur as the two don’t deparate from their embrace, Niall’s mind racing with thoughts as he tries to figure out what to do.

 

 

.

 

 

It doesn’t take long before Niall decides to tell Harry what he knows and ask for help.

And telling Harry apparently also means telling Louis.

 

He breathes in shakily, the other two boys eyeing him nervously as he admits what he’s been keeping in since his conversation with Cindy during lunch.

 

“I think I know what happened to Bella.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I appreciate seeing kudos and reading everyone’s comments/theories! Please let me know what you thought!
> 
> The next chapter will be the last chapter, and that after that will be an epilogue.


	8. Jared pt. 2

Louis and Harry glance at one another briefly, but Niall doesn’t miss their panic stricken faces.

“What do you mean you know what happened to Bella?” Louis asks skeptically, eyeing the blonde headed boy across the table with a concerned expression. Harry bites his lip, mirroring Louis’ conflicted facial expression, which has Niall momentarily suspicious of the two.

“Jesus fucking Christ, is everyone hiding something all of a sudden?” Niall curses, eyes flickering back and forth between the two lads across from him accusatorily. “What do you two know that I don’t?”

“We’re not hiding anything,” Harry says, just as Louis says, “We asked you a question first.”

“So you are hiding something?” Niall retaliates, completely ignoring Harry’s statement in favor of responding to Louis.

Harry opens his mouth to deny Niall’s claims, but Louis beats him to it, kicking the curly haired boy’s leg under the table to get him to shut up.

“I’ll decide if it’s worth telling you about after you tell me what you know about Bella’s death,” Louis says firmly, raising an eyebrow at Niall.

 

Niall rolls his eyes, clearly annoyed with the two for holding things back from him, but he doesn’t hesitate any further before he sighs and tells Louis and Harry what he knows.

 

“God, my girlfriend is going to hate me for this,” he mutters to himself.

 

.

 

 

Liam’s close to dozing off when he feels a sudden change in the room’s atmosphere. His hand is gripping Zayn’s firmly but loosely, careful not to hurt the boy in his unconscious state, the top half of his body leaning forward so that his head is resting on the tan boy’s forearm. Yaser was unable to get the day off from work to stay with his son like he pleased, but Trisha is across from him, asleep in her own arm chair but hand resting firmly on Zayn’s other arm. Liam’s pretty sure it’s the first ounce of sleep she’s gotten since Zayn was first announced missing, so he doesn’t expect her to wake up when his ears pick up the sudden change in Zayn’s heartrate machine.

The machine starts picking up, letting out a short “beep” every half a second, and Liam sits up to reach for the button that’s next to Zayn’s hospital bed to alert the staff immediately, worried about what might be going on, when he suddenly feels it.

 _It_ being a slight squeeze to his hand that’s gripping Zayn’s.

He gasps quietly at the touch, careful of waking Trisha in the quiet hospital room.

“Zayn?” He asks quietly, looking at the boy’s face expectantly. Zayn still looks as peaceful as he has since Liam first saw him in the hospital bed, eyelashes fanned across his cheekbones and lips jutted outward in a slight pout as he rests on his back, but Liam doesn’t miss the way the boy’s eyelids start to flutter and the slight crease in the boy’s eyebrows as he feels another squeeze to his hand.

“Oh my god,” Liam hears. He looks over at where Trisha was sleeping just a few moments ago, now alert and eyeing her son with wide eyes. Liam bets Zayn squeezed the hand she has gripping Zayn’s other one, as well, thus waking her from her sleep. She brushes a hand across Zayn’s forehead, whispering words Liam recognizes are in Urdu but doesn’t quite understand the meaning of, before she looks over at Liam panicked.

Before either of them could do anything else, a small staff of nurses and a doctor have arrived in the room, taking note of the situation at hand before a nurse is politely whisking them away from Zayn, asking them to go to the visitor’s room to wait until they finish assessing things. Liam regrets his decision to alert the staff of Zayn’s state, having wished he could be there to see Zayn wake up and make sure the other boy was okay, but he tries to assure himself that the hospital staff is full of trained professionals who will be more helpful to Zayn than he could be right now. 

So instead he waits, letting himself be pulled into a hug that Trisha offers, surrounded by other visitors in a too cold and too bright waiting room, impatiently waiting to hear back if the ones they love are safe and sound. He feels helpless, sitting around in a waiting room yards away from the boy he loves, the boy he should’ve protected to prevent him from being endangered like this, but he knows he has no other choice but to wait.

It’s not long until he gets a call from Harry. He looks at his phone screen and briefly wonders why Harry is calling him instead of texting him, but he figures it must be important considering their current situation, so he politely excuses himself from Zayn’s mom and steps outside into the hallway to keep his conversation with Harry private. Though he’s sure Louis will be on the other end of the phone with Harry, anyway.

“Liam!” Harry urgently shouts into the phone before Liam even has a moment to greet him.

“Yes?” He asks, cupping the phone in one hand as he finds an empty chair on the other end of the hallway. The hallway isn’t empty by any means, considering there are patients’ families and nurses roaming about, but it’s loud enough with their chatter that he doesn’t have to worry about anyone eavesdropping on his conversation, especially considering the heaviness of their conversation and the fact that many people in their small town can easily recognize him as the sheriff’s son. He definitely doesn’t need to draw anymore unnecessary attention to himself.

“Ask him how Zayn is first,” he hears in the background, and just as he suspected, it’s Louis who is on the other end of the phone with Harry. Harry parrots Louis’ question to Liam which has Liam rolling his eyes.

“Hi, Louis. I can hear you too when I’m on speaker, smartass,” he says, and he can practically hear Louis’ responding eyeroll through the phone before answering their question about Zayn, “I’m actually not sure how he is. The nurses kicked me and his mum out. We felt him squeeze our hands and think he’s coming back to himself, but we’re not really sure.”

He doesn’t have to see Harry to know the other boy is probably pouting, and he’s sure Louis feels some guilt for the situation as well, but he doesn’t have much time to dwell on it before Louis is telling him the real reason why he was called.

“Liam, we know who’s behind this. Nialler is here, too, by the way-“

“-Hi, Liam!”

“Hi Niall! You doing okay?”

“I’m doing good, how-“

“Okay, back to me, now, thanks,” he hears Louis say, and he can imagine the boy rolling his eyes at the interruption once again.

“As I was saying,” Louis says, to which Harry mutters something that Liam can’t hear but sounds like “get on with it.”

“We know who did everything. It’s Cindy.”

Liam inhales sharply, taking a moment to process what Louis just told him.

“Cindy?” He asks after a moment. And then, “Niall? Are you sure about this? She’s your-“

“-Liam,” he hears Niall interrupt, his voice suddenly louder in Liam’s ear which has Liam thinking Louis passed him the phone, “Cindy told me she threatened Bella the night of the play because she knew Bella destroyed the set so that she could take over as the lead.” He pauses to give Liam a chance to process the words before continuing, “She was nervous about me saying anything, basically scared she’d be put as a suspect, especially since she withheld information from the police. I didn’t think she would have killed Bella, Cindy’s not capable of that, but when Louis and Harry told me you guys figured out that the death was likely a suicide, it made a lot more sense.”

Liam nods, because while he doesn’t think Cindy could kill someone so grotesquely, he could see how her threats may have compelled Bella to feel the need to release some tension by cutting herself, and maybe accidentally killing herself in the process. He thinks about it for a moment, weighing the idea over in his head. Something doesn’t feel right to him, mostly about how Bella’s body was practically paraded around after her death on the set in front of the play’s audience, and although he tries to brush it off, he fails. He thinks of the way her blood was smeared out to write “you’re next,” and wonders if the sign he once thought was ominous was meant to target Zayn, who Louis was quick to claim was a suspect of the case.

Suddenly, the image of Bella’s coroner report flashes through his mind, followed by the image of Zayn lying in his hospital bed. He thinks of the deliberate marks that were put over their bodies, thinks of how Cindy may have caused them and shudders. He inhales sharply at the images in his head, closing his eyes to put his words together properly.

“I think,” he says, pausing to choose his words wisely, “I think you guys need to let Mark and my dad know immediately. If she is responsible, and she was at my house the night of the study party, then she knew that Zayn figured out what happened and likely tried to kill him to shut him up.”

He hears the other boy’s breathe sharply at his words, before Harry’s voice is speaking up to say, “Are you sure that’s not a stretch, Liam? Zayn could’ve just gotten in an accident-“

“Harry,” he says firmly, interrupting the boy’s questions, “Zayn’s body is covered in tiny marks that are identical to the ones Bella had on her body. His car was _flipped over_ when they found him. At the worst he should just have injuries to his brain or spinal cord, so it doesn’t make sense that he has tiny cuts everywhere on his face and body, let alone that they match the ones Bella had.”

“Unless someone else created them,” he hears Louis say, and Liam nods despite the other boy’s not being able to see it.

“Just like we suspected happened with Bella. There’s no chance it’s a coincidence. You guys need to let someone know of Cindy immediately. I would but my dad can’t know I’m at the hospital right now,” he says, lowering his voice on the last statement so that no one around him could overhear.

He hears the other boys murmur agreements quietly, but there’s some hesitation in Niall’s words.

“Niall, I know you care about her, but if she did this to Bella and Zayn you have to tell someone,” Liam says, practically pleading for the blonde to understand the intensity of the situation.

“But how do we know she did this? Are we completely sure it was her?” Niall asks, and Liam’s heart breaks at the vulnerability in his voice. Niall has always been the loud and boisterous one of their group, rivalling Louis with his energy, and hearing him sound so unsure of himself is unusual and heartbreaking for Liam to hear.

“You have to put your safety first, Niall. She admitted to you that she sent threats to Bella, and she withheld information from the police and asked you not to tell anyone for reasons,” he hears Harry say quietly. “And clearly you felt compelled to tell us, because you know there’s something up with her,” he points out. “It’s gonna be hard but you need to do it.”

Liam doesn’t hear anything from the other three boys for a long moment, and he’s almost convinced they’ve hung up on him when he hears a “fine, but I can’t be the one to do it. One of you do it.”

“I’ll tell my dad right now,” he hears Louis say, and there’s some quiet tapping noises that Liam can barely hear that tells him the other boy is texting his dad as they speak. Liam opens his mouth to say something when suddenly he feels a hand on his arm. He sits up in shock and pulls the phone away from his ear, turning around to look at the source of the touch to see it’s only Trisha looking at him with a small glint in her eyes.

“Liam, honey, he’s awake,” she says, a small jump to her words, and that’s all Liam needs to hear before he’s bidding the other three boys on the phone goodbye and rushing down the hall with Zayn’s mother to see Zayn.

 

 

.

 

 

“What did I miss?”

Liam had asked for a minute alone with Zayn, to which Trisha was a little hesitant to agree to having just been reunited with her son after so long, but had granted him anyway. She claimed she needed to update Yaser on Zayn’s wellbeing, anyway, so without any further words she stepped outside of the hospital room to let the two boys speak privately, closing the door behind her.

Liam snorted at Zayn’s question, still holding the boy’s hand in his before squeezing it gently, “Nothing besides everyone missing you.”

Zayn gives him a small smile, though there’s a sense of sadness that shields his eyes that worries Liam. 

“What?” Liam asks him, using the fingers of his hand that isn’t gripping Zayn’s tightly, almost in fear of the other boy leaving him again, to smooth out the worried creases in the boy’s face.

“I broke our promise,” he says. “I didn’t stay safe like you promised me too, and I’m sorry.”

Liam feels his heart clench in his chest but he shakes his head at Zayn sadly, “No, Zayn, it’s not your fault at all. I don’t blame you for what happened-“

 

Suddenly, the raven haired boy’s eyes widen, prompting Liam to trail off in worry as the heart rate monitor starts picking up a quicker beat like before. Liam’s hand instinctually flies to hover over the call button next to the bed, the same button he pressed earlier to alert the hospital staff of Zayn’s state, but Zayn grips his hand as firmly as he can and shakes his head, silently telling Liam not to press the button. Liam lets his hand drop back to his side, eyes focused on Zayn as he watches the boy take deep breaths to calm himself down.

“Zayn? Love, what’s wrong?” He asks, ignoring the sudden wave of heat that rushes to his cheeks at having called Zayn “love” and the way it has his own heart rate matching up with the beat that’s released from Zayn’s monitor.

“Liam,” he gasps suddenly, doing his best to sit up but the wires attached to his body prevent him from moving far. Liam gently lifts the hand that’s not gripping Zayn’s to push gently at the boy’s shoulder to get him to lay back onto the pillows.

“Relax, it’s okay,” Liam says, his gut twisting at the sight of Zayn struggling.

Zayn shakes his head, eyeing Liam widely as he squeezes the boy’s hand again. “Liam,” he says again, and Liam is scared by the obvious fear in the boy’s eyes, “Liam I know who did it. I know who did it and he tried to kill me.”

“He?” Liam asks immediately, heart picking up suddenly. He sits up to the point where he’s practically hovering over Zayn, nervously flickering his eyes over the other boy’s face. “Are you sure?”

Zayn nods frantically, eyes wide with fear as he says, “Liam, you need to tell someone now. If he knows I’m still alive-“

“-Hey, hey, calm down,” Liam urges, brushing the hairs that are matted to Zayn’s forehead with sweat out of the way. He squeezes Zayn’s hand tightly, asking the boy to mimick his slow breaths until the heart rate monitor slows down to a relative pace, despite Liam’s own heart beating frantically in his chest at Zayn’s words.

“You’re sure it’s not Cindy who staged the suicide?” Liam asks once Zayn has calmed down a little. Zayn looks at Liam like the boy has grown a third head, eyes wide as he shakes his head frantically.

“Cindy? No, Liam! It was Ashton!”

“Ashton?” He asks, raising his eyebrows in pure shock. He eyes Zayn with wide eyes, not understanding where the blonde’s connection to everything comes in.

“I, what? I don’t understand,” Liam says, shaking his head at Zayn in disbelief. 

“Liam, Ashton helped us rebuild the balcony, yeah? He heard us complaining about Louis’ antics the night of the play,” Zayn explains. Liam doesn’t understand how that ties Ashton to the case, but he lets the boy finish without interrupting.

“That one day at school, in the choir room, remember Ashton told us he was with Calum the night before he went missing? Remember how he said he was going to help him grab food with Calum because Calum was too scared to go alone and his mom had asked him? Louis told me Calum’s mom passed a year ago! How could she have asked Calum to do that if she’s dead? Ashton had to have lied!”

Liam shakes his head doubtfully, but he feels his heart pick back up at the words, “But maybe Calum lied to Ashton about his mom wanting him to get food?” He says, though he’s unsure of the possibility of that happening himself.

“No, no, Liam. Ashton is also the same person who pointed fingers at Jared and-,” Zayn hesitates, his eyes sad as he looks Liam in the eye. “Before the accident happened, Liam, I could have sworn I saw Ashton’s car hit mine dead on. I lost control of the car and swerved into the curb and I don’t remember the rest, but it wasn’t that dark out yet and I thought I recognized his car,” he says, the words rushing out of his mouth all at once, “but Liam, I _know_ what I saw,” Zayn says confidently, crossing his arms defensively as if to prevent Liam from debating with him.

Liam is still a little doubtful of Zayn, though he doesn’t voice it since he knows it would upset the other boy. He doesn’t know if he can believe Zayn, not because he thinks the boy is lying, but because the boy has been out of consciousness since the event of the accident, and Liam’s not sure if such a traumatic experience could be remembered correctly if it’s as vividly as Zayn is describing it to be. How sure could Zayn be that he saw Ashton’s car and not any other car? Especially since he was so shaken up after his meeting with Louis and Harry.

After giving it some thought, he chooses not to confront Zayn about having met with Louis and Harry behind his back to figure out the case. He knows Zayn only did it because Liam was too stubborn to even look in Louis’ direction, and Zayn only wanted to help so that he could have the resources to figure out how any of the details of the cases tie together. After all, he’d be a hypocrite for being upset with Zayn when he himself agreed to help Louis and Harry figure it out.

He subconsciously runs a hand over one of the tiny cuts on Zayn’s arm, one that mirrors the one on Bella’s body, before he remembers something that makes his whole body ache with nausea.

“Oh, god. Ashton’s car was wrecked when he dropped me off at the hospital yesterday,” he says, to which Zayn responds with a gasp and a sudden peak in the boy’s heart rate monitor. “He must have left these on you, too,” he says, referring to the marks covering Zayn’s face and arms. His heart clenches at the sight, but he feels his blood boil at the thought of one of his own friends physically hurting Zayn.

“You got in a car with him?!” Zayn practically yells, to which Liam eyes him defensively.

“How was I supposed to know?” He retaliates, to which Zayn slaps his arm at and says, “I literally told you your house wasn’t safe.”

“Well then you should have given me a name or something, Zayn!” He says, though he lowers his voice to avoid having a full blown argument right now. 

“What would Calum and Ethan going missing have to do with Ashton, though?” Liam asks instead, wanting to redirect the subject from he and Ashton’s drive to the hospital. He doesn’t want to mention the fact that he potentially brought the same person who tried to kill Zayn to Zayn’s hospital room while he was unconscious.

That wouldn’t be pretty.

Zayn bites his lip for a moment, thinking, before he says, “Well, didn’t he try out for the soccer team?”

Liam pauses to think over Zayn’s question, his brow creasing as he looks at the other boy thoughtfully, “Yeah. I guess getting Calum off would help him get a spot on the team-“

“-And getting Ethan off when Jared is running for goalie could easily frame Jared for everything,” Zayn finishes for him, resting his head back on his pillow to stare at Liam thoughtfully.

Liam tries to process everything, and while it makes the most sense that Ashton is behind everything, he’s not sure if he can believe it. He could barely believe Cindy was responsible, but Ashton especially, knowing the boy’s been good friends with him for much longer than he’s even known Cindy for. But he also can’t figure out where Calum or Ethan are. Zayn went missing and turned up the next day, whereas Calum and Ethan have yet to be found after several days, almost weeks, of being missing. He still doesn’t understand how the two tie into all of it, despite their missing status leaving an open spot on the soccer team. For some reason, he doesn’t believe that the person who could stage a murder would just kidnap two people just to play soccer. Then again, he doesn’t think anyone demented enough to stage a murder could do anything that makes sense to him.

He voices his concerns to Zayn, who just shrugs in response, unable to figure out how Ashton could have orchestrated the two kidnappings himself. That is, if they were kidnappings, since Liam’s not so sure after Zayn’s car accident. Anything could have happened to Calum and Ethan, something Zayn mentions could have been simply because they “knew too much,” just like Zayn had before he was targeted. 

“But then why frame Jared?” Zayn asks, biting his lip. Liam gives him a conflicted look, squeezing his hand before he remembers the conversation he and Zayn had at lunch with Ashton just before Ethan went missing.

 

__  
Who’s your friend, Ashton?” Zayn jokes, eyeing Liam with a grin as the other chimes in.  
   
“Yeah, bro, you gonna introduce us to your girlfriend, or what?” Liam says, making Ashton roll his eyes again.  
   
“Hailee’s far from my girlfriend,” he says, rolling his eyes at the pair before going back to his staredown with the girl, Hailee. “Her and I talked a little while back but turns out she was more interested in Jared. Don’t see why though, especially not after what he did to Bella,” Ashton says. 

__

__

 

He reminds Zayn of the incident, who’s eyes widen immediately. 

“Oh my god,” Zayn mutters, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth, “do you think he did all of this just because he was upset both Hailee and Bella had a thing with Jared?” Zayn asks. Liam’s not sure if Bella’s incident with Jared at Sofia’s party counts as Bella having a “thing” with Jared, but he nods anyway, knowing what Zayn is hinting at. There’s a pause in their conversation as both boys weigh over the possibility of Ashton being responsible for everything, the pieces coming together slowly. Liam takes a moment to focus his ears on the other boy’s heart rate monitor again, wanting to make sure Zayn isn’t too stressed by the sudden news he’s thrown onto him. He waits until the other boy’s heart rate has calmed down a bit before he mutters a quick “fuck” and reaches for his phone.

“What’s wrong?” Zayn asks immediately, sitting up slowly to peer at Liam’s phone screen curiously. Liam rubs a hand over his face, rubbing at his temples in frustration.

“The boys just told Mark that Cindy is responsible,” he explains, to which Zayn looks at him, perplexed.

“Cindy? Why?” Zayn asks, clearly puzzled as to how Cindy may have been responsible. Liam quickly catches him up on the conversation he had out in the hallway with the boys not long ago, to which Zayn frowns at.

“Cindy wasn’t even at the play that night, though,” Zayn points out. “There’s no way she could have done it, Liam. Maybe she pressured Bella into harming herself, but there’s no way she put her up to the balcony and went after Ethan and Calum.”

Liam thinks for a moment, and Zayn is right. Cindy was still at the hospital getting her leg checked out and couldn’t even make it to the play to support Louis. With the pain she was in, there was no way she would have been capable of pinning Bella up to the set, anyway. And having to use crutches and wear a cast on her leg would make it almost impossible for her to successfully kidnap or harm two boys twice her size. It doesn’t make any sense for her to have done anything.

“But why would Ashton have done it?” Liam asks, mostly muttering the words to himself. He’s not really expecting an answer before Zayn hums thoughtfully. “What was his motive? To get back at Bella? To frame Jared?”

“I don’t know,” Zayn says honestly, frowning. He reaches his hand out for Liam’s phone then, earning a curious look from Liam, but he hands it over anyway.

“What are you doing?” He asks curiously, watching Zayn type in Liam’s password effortlessly and scroll through his contacts.

“Calling Niall,” he explains, before Liam’s phone starts chiming quietly as it waits for the blonde to pick it up. It goes to voicemail the first time, but Zayn is determined and calls again, this time Niall picking up on the second ring.

“Liam? Hey, is everything okay?” He asks immediately.

“‘S not Liam,” Zayn says into the phone, and though his voice still sounds a little groggy after having been under for so long, Niall is able to distinguish him immediately.

“Zayn, god, are you alright? You’re up?” He hears Niall ask, and Zayn smiles briefly, a sight Liam hasn’t seen in a while but missed greatly, before his faces turns serious again.

“I’m okay, but Niall- You guys have it all wrong. It’s not Cindy who did this. She’s innocent,” Zayn says frantically, doing his best to sound clear over the phone though Liam can tell the boy is still tired and drained through the way his voice sounds strained. He runs his hand up and down the Zayn’s arms reassuringly, mindful of the bandaged cuts on his arm, encouraging him to continue.

“It’s not?” He hears Niall ask, and though he sounds shocked, theres a bit of hope in his words that Liam knows the boy is holding onto.

“Yes, Niall, you need to believe us. It wasn’t Cindy,” Zayn says, and Liam interjects before either of them can say anything else.

“Niall, we need you to tell us what happened at Sofia’s party last summer with Bella and Jared,” Liam says, moving foreward so that Niall can hear him a little clearer through the phone.

“Sofia’s party? The one she had this summer? What does that have to do with anything?” Niall asks, and Liam looks at Zayn to nod briefly before he answers the blonde’s question.

“Ashton told Zayn and I one day that Jared tried to roofie Bella at the party,” he waits to hear a response from Niall but doesn’t hear anything so he continues, “he says you were one of the people who caught him trying to rape her.”

“Me?!” Niall says, sounding genuinely shocked and confused, which puzzles Liam and Zayn. “I don’t remember that happening.”

“Are you sure?” Zayn asks, biting his lip. “Were you too drunk to remember, or-“

“-Zayn, no one in our year holds their liquor as well as I do,” Niall points out, and Liam nods because he’s right. For someone who is only eighteen years old, Niall can drink and drink and drink and barely feel the effects of it,”and I only had a couple drinks that night because no one told me it was BYOB. If Ashton told you that then he’s lying, because I’d remember if someone was roofied and raped. Hell, the whole school would’ve been talking about it.”

There’s a brief pauses, none of them saying anything, until eventually Zayn speaks up. “He’s right,” Zayn says softly, and Liam looks away, unable to meet his eyes.

He doesn’t have any doubt in his mind now that it’s Ashton behind all of this, all of the pieces of the puzzle finally coming to place one by one.

“Liam,” he hears Niall say, “I have something to confess, and you might not be happy with me,” the blonde boy admits, and Liam sits up suddenly in response, his heart dropping a little in his chest as he waits nervously for Niall to continue, “That day at lunch while you and Cindy were talking, I told Ashton about the text I saw Zayn send you before he went missing,” Zayn’s eyes flicker to Liam to gage his reaction as Niall continues, “He said he figured the text was about someone in your family. Then he said you brought up something the night of the play, when you all were working on the set again, and he said you told them all that Louis would ‘pay for everything.’ Part of me believed him.”

Liam lets out the breath he was holding, and Zayn lets go of his hand to run a hand through the short strands of hair on Liam’s head assuringly, letting his hand rest on Liam’s shoulder when he’s done. “Niall, I never even said that-“

“No, Liam, let me finish,” Niall says, and Liam let’s him, taking in a deep breath as he wait to hear the boy continue.

“I believe you now, but at the time I believed that you were responsible, and I was even quick to believe that Cindy, my own girlfriend, was behind everything just an hour ago. I didn’t want to believe that either of those were true. So now I’m throwing any last chance of me being a good friend out the window to tell you that if you think Ashton has anything to do with this mess, that I believe it,” Niall says firmly, and Liam can hear the truth to his words. “He may not have been as vocal as Louis, but he was quick to lie about what happened at Sofia’s party and even quicker to frame Jared and then you.”

“That’s it then, yeah?” Zayn says suddenly, a slight pip to his words. “We can get you to testify on behalf of Jared and say he never roofied Bella, therefore he has no connection to the case and can’t be considered a suspect,” he tells Niall.

Liam bites his lip at the pause Niall takes before responding, hearing the other boy exhale a shaky breath.

“There’s a slight problem with that,” Niall says.

“What?” Liam asks immediately, eyes flickering to Zayn’s immediately. Zayn looks concerned as well, and their hearts drop when Niall says his next words.

“Guys, Jared went missing yesterday.”

“Missing?” Liam says. “Like, what, did he run away?”

He hears Niall sigh, “No one knows, Liam. Louis’ dad went to arrest him yesterday before school even started, but his parents said they didn’t see him come home the night before. Same as with Calum, Ethan and then Zayn. They don’t think he ran because he didn’t know he was a suspect, plus it would make him even more guilty if he’s innocent. Do you think maybe Ashton-?”

“Fuck,” Liam says, ignoring Niall’s question. He doesn’t really have an answer, not entirely sure himself as to Ashton’s motive behind everything. He takes a moment to process things, feeling his heart drop in his chest. Any chance of getting Jared to be proven innocent is thrown out of the window, and he briefly wonders if this is something Ashton anticipated after Zayn figured things out. Liam looks over at Zayn who looks just as dejected, and he doesn’t hesitate before he leans forward to press a chaste kiss fo the boy’s forehead, hoping to ease his worries. Zayn gives him a small grateful smile, squeezing his hand tightly, and Liam feels himself drawn in to Zayn’s body when he’s suddenly reminded that they’re on the phone with Niall discussing urgent stuff.

“I should go tell Louis and Harry,” he hears Niall say, and Zayn flickers his eyes away from Liam’s heavy gaze but Liam doesn’t miss the pink that tinges the boy’s cheeks, making his own heart flutter. “They already told Mark about Cindy, I should go before things get worse.”

Liam and Zayn agree, the two bidding the blonde goodbye and ending the call, though the tension between them doesn’t dissipate after the heaviness of their conversation.

“Wow,” Zayn mutters after a moment of silence, “So we really figured this all out, huh?”

Liam shrugs, because while they now know without a doubt that Ashton’s responsible, they still don’t know everything. He means to tell Zayn this, but he’s once again interrupted by a sharp knock on the door and a muffled, “Boys? Is it alright if I come in?”

Liam blushes, having forgotten that Trisha was still outside in the hallway waiting for them to finish. Liam kisses Zayn’s forehead and squeezes his hand once more reassuringly before Zayn shouts, “yes, mum!” Zayn tries to ignore the blush rising to his cheeks as Trisha walks in to the room, a knowing look on her face.

She raises an eyebrow at the two as she reoccupies the seat she was situated in before on Zayn’s other side, “So what did you two discuss while I was gone?”

Zayn and Liam look at one another briefly, both trying their best to refrain from laughing, before they both just shrug and do their best to look nonchalant. Trisha eyes them both suspiciously, but she ignores their behavior and instead proceeds to tell Zayn about every little thing his sisters have done since he’s been gone. And just like that, Liam starts to feel like, although things may not be the best for them all right now, and he still has a lot more on his mind to say, he can pretend that just in this moment, with his hand intertwined in Zayn’s and surrounded by two people he loves and trusts, he’s safe and sound. And maybe soon, he can feel like things will be completely okay again, and maybe he can finally bring himself to tell Zayn the things on his mind.

 

 

.

 

 

“You can never listen, can you?” Mark says, the irritation clear in his voice.

Harry shifts in his seat, clearly uncomfortable at having to be present while Louis’ dad reprimands Louis, but Louis just sits tall in his seat on his living room couch, not backing down from his father’s scolding.

“Dad, whether or not you want to believe me, you wouldn’t have figured nearly half of this out without me and my friends-“

“-Are these same friends helping you the same ones you’re accusing of bloody murder every two seconds?” Mark asks his son. He rubs at his temples in frustration, “God, Louis, I told you to stay away from those files for a good reason. Not only are you putting yourself in danger, but you put your own friends at risk by dragging them into this mess.”

Louis shifts a little in his seat at that, knowing his dad is hinting at Zayn’s “accident” and Harry’s involvement, but he sits up to face his dad anyway, “Dad, I know you wanted to keep me safe, but I had good intentions in trying to figure things out. I just wanted answers, and you weren’t finding them!”

“Louis, I don’t even know if I can arrest this boy. What evidence do I have? First, you told everyone it was Liam and then Zayn, your own two friends, responsible for killing Bella, then you tell me it’s your own soccer teammate, then you tell me it’s your friend Cindy, but half an hour later you tell me it’s actually your other friend Ashton?” He shakes his head in frustration. “Who’s next? Harry? Me? Your mom? Your own sisters? Yourself?”

“Dad, you have to believe us-“

“-Mr. Tomlinson,” Harry interjects from his seat on the couch, interrupting Louis before the argument could escalate any further, “I never once believed Louis when he blamed Liam or Zayn, and I was skeptical about everyone else, but Ashton is seriously the person responsible, and we have the evidence to prove it.” Harry looks at Louis briefly for reassurance before he faces Mark again, this time a lot more confident, “And if you truly care about the safety of your son and this town, then you’ll listen to us and get this person behind bars.”

Mark frowns at Harry. He looks skeptical, though he doesn’t argue with him like he had Louis, “I need a lot of evidence this time to be convinced that this Ashton boy murdered someone and kidnapped three people.”

“Well actually,” Harry says, pulling the copies of the files he and Louis photocopied out of his bag. He smiles sheepishly when he shows them to Mark, since he knows he shouldn’t have posession over their contents, but he opens it up and pulls out the top sheet, revealing the coroner’s report, “It wasn’t a death. It was a suicide. And here’s our proof.”

Louis watches with bated breath as Mark looks at Harry curiously, nodding his head for his son’s friend to continue. He takes a seat next to Harry on the couch and looks over the boy’s shoulder at the familiar report, eyes following Harry’s fingers over the pictures as Harry repeats what Liam told he and Louis about the marks on Bella’s body, before the two start discussing the evidence they have of Ashton’s involvement. Louis watches in awe, for once in his life speechless as he watches his dad and the boy he’s grown to love so much talk incessantly about the case.

“Zayn told Liam he recognized Ashton’s car from the crash,” Harry says after a moment. “Ashton’s car looked banged up the day after. How long would it take to be able to get footage of the street cameras to see if it really was his car that crashed into Zayn’s?”

Mark takes a moment to think about it, before something dawns on his face and he’s grabbing his work phone and typing, “Sheriff told me he got the footage this morning. I’ll ask him to look over it now,” he says. Harry bites his lip and looks at Louis, the two unable to contain their nerves as they wait impatiently for Mark’s phone to chime with a response from the sheriff.

But when they finally get the response nearly twenty minutes later, after the three have spent the long wait practically talking over one another about the case, the sheriff gives them the exact response they were expecting to hear, confirming that the car in the footage has the same license number that’s registered under the name Ashton Irwin.

 

 

.

 

 

Within the hour there are police cars lined up outside of Ashton’s family’s home, ready to arrest the boy on the accounts of attempted murder, kidnapping, a hit and run, and tampering with criminal evidence. Louis watches from the frontseat of Harry’s car nervously, having begged the boy to follow discreetly behind his father’s cop car and park down the street from the chaos to watch it all go down. For a second he fears that Ashton will be gone, that he’d have figured out that everyone was onto him and have fled town, but for the sake of figuring out the well beings of Ethan and Calum, and to get justice for Zayn and Bella, he hopes the fucker gets what he deserves.

“I can’t believe we five figured this all out,” Harry says from the driver’s seat, a slight giddiness to his words as he watches Ashton get whisked away into one of the cop cars. The blue and red lights from the cop cars shine over his face, making the green eyed boy squint to get a good look at the scene before them, before he looks over at Louis and sighs happily, “God, I could kiss you right now.”

Louis looks over at him with a raised brow, his lips tilted to the side in a small smirk, “So then why don’t you?”

And Harry doesn’t need to hear anything more before he’s leaning over the console, capturing Louis’ lips in his own, doing exactly that.

 

 

 

.

 

 

“Zayn?” Liam asks, squeezing Zayn’s hand to get the other boy’s attention. Visiting hours end soon, Zayn’s family long gone after Yaser and his sisters joined he and Trisha midday. They left not long after offering Liam a ride home, but Liam declined the offer, instead sucked it up and called his father, telling him of his whereabouts. Though his dad wasn’t happy with him disobeying his orders, he was just happy his son was safe and offered to come get him after his shift.

Zayn’s doctor said Zayn won’t be discharged for another day just until they’re sure everything with his nervous system is fine, and it’s a miracle really that Zayn survived such a traumatic experience with barely any damage, but Liam is beyond grateful. The few bruises and scars that he can see on Zayn’s body make his heart hurt enough, and he doesn’t even think he could fathom witnessing any more potential damage to the boy’s body, let alone losing the boy entirely.

“Yeah?” He hears Zayn mutter quietly, a slight slur to his words due to the medicine making him a little drowsy. Liam feels a slight guilt at keeping Zayn up, but he crawls into the space Zayn opens for him on the hospital bed wordlessly, knowing if he doesn’t tell Zayn how he feels now, he’ll let his pining continue for longer than he’d like.

“You know I love you, yeah?” He says, his heart beating quickly in his chest. Zayn’s own heart rate monitor gives a little jump that startles Liam, but he reaches out to wrap a hand across Zayn’s front reassuringly, careful not to jostle the other boy.

“Of course, love you too, Liam,” Zayn says, almost dismissively, but Liam shakes his head and tilts Zayn’s face to look at him directly. He breathes in sharply as he realizes they’re laying so close to one another, and while they’ve never really kept their distance from one another, it feels oddly intimate between them. He’s so close he can see the specks of green and gold in the other boy’s brown eyes, even though the room is getting darker due to the setting sun outside. 

“No, Zayn,” he mumbles, though due to their close proximity Zayn hears him clearly, “I really, really love you.”

Liam doesn’t need to hear Zayn’s heart rate monitor to know Zayn’s heart is picking up in his chest. He can feel the rapid movement beneath his fingertips as Zayn smiles, his amber colored eyes staring at Liam’s intensely as he mutters a “Yeah? Do you really?”

Liam nods, waiting with bated breath for a response from Zayn, who laughs and mutters a, “fucking hell, Liam,” before he’s surging forward and. Oh.

Liam’s thought about this moment so many times throughout his relatively short life, dreamed of it even, though nothing has prepared him for the feeling of Zayn’s soft lips against his own. He’s stunned for a moment, but when he feels Zayn let out a small giggle, a _fucking giggle,_ against his lips, he starts moving his own lips to match Zayn’s pace. He brings a hand up to cup the other boy’s face, and while it’s not the best kiss because they’re mostly just pressing their smiles into one another, it’s so _them_ that neither of them really care.

“I love you, too, Liam,” Zayn says once they’ve both pulled away to catch their breaths, stretching out Liam’s name until it sounds like a slow, teasing drawl. Liam presses his forehead carefully against Zayn’s, mindful of the bandaged cuts and bruises, as he searches his face for any doubt of the words being true.

“Yeah?” Liam finds himself asking, slightly unsure, and Zayn smiles as he nods, his hair fanned out against the pillow of his hospital bed as he tries to find Liam’s hand again, giving it a reassuring squeeze before he’s interlacing his pinky finger with Liam’s.

“Yeah,” Zayn whispers, his smile never leaving his face as he holds up their interlaced pinky fingers, and that’s all Liam needs before he’s leaning in again for another kiss.

 

 

 

 

 

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?
> 
> Also, in case anything may still seem a little unclear to you all, everything will all come together in the next chapter. This chapter was more about knowing who did it and how they found it out, whereas the next chapter will be more about the person’s motive. I’d love to know what you guys thought, and whether or not any of you suspected this person!


	9. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooh. Okay.  
> I apologize for this epilogue being so long overdue. It was such a struggle to write this, but I wanted it to be absolutely perfect before I did since it is the final part of this fic, and I’ve barely had a chance to sit down and write/perfect things until the past few days.  
> That being said, I really do hope you guys enjoyed this fic. It’s not at all what I imagined it being when I first started writing it (especially considering I originally wanted this to be an ABO fic but wasn’t sure how people would feel about that), but I’m still really proud of it and hope you all enjoyed this little journey.

Getting Liam to leave Zayn’s side proves to be quite the task.

And, well. Zayn’s not sure how he feels about it.

On one hand, he loves the attention Liam gives him now that they’re no longer just Liam and Zayn but LiamAndZayn. They haven’t really put a label on things, not really feeling the need to since they both understand each other’s limits and needs. And it’s not like he’s not used to constantly being around Liam since the two have been best friends for years. Things are just a little bit more intimate between them now. It’s lovely, truly, for Zayn to constantly have someone to kiss and hold within arms reach. And Liam is always doting over Zayn, spending the weekend after Zayn gets discharged from the hospital making sure the other boy is well rested and taken care of, not that Trisha would have it any other way with how she rivals Liam’s doting with her overbearing nurturing tendencies. And Zayn loves being in Liam’s presence, loves the way their lips mold together during commercial breaks of the Harry Potter movie marathon running on the television, loves the way Liam’s arms mend around his waist now that they’re toned from hitting up the gym and footie practice, loves the way Liam nuzzles his nose into Zayn’s hairline when Zayn’s back aches and offers him cuddles and a massage. He loves that the other boy is spending his weekend watching over Zayn instead of being in his own home catching up on all of the schoolwork he’s pushed aside to be with Zayn. He loves Liam’s devotion, he loves all of it.

But it’s a little irritable, as well, when he can’t even walk to the bathroom down the hall from his room without Liam insisting on carrying him there, or he can’t even complain about being parched or hungry without Liam immediately rushing to the kitchen to get something for him so he doesn’t need to get up. He can’t even change out of his sweaty clothes or shift around in his too warm bed without Liam insisting on doing everything for him, and at the age of eighteen he shouldn’t feel like he needs someone else to help him do such simple tasks. He gets that he’s just gotten out of an accident and needs to rest and limit movement, but walking to the bathroom on his own or changing out of his tshirt when his limbs are working completely fine on their own shouldn’t require Liam’s supervision. 

And he loves the boy, he really does, but he has to draw the line somewhere.

“Liam, this is my last time telling you, you are NOT joining me in the shower. I can stand up just fine without you holding me up,” Zayn says, crossing his arms defensively as he does his best not to cave when Liam’s face twists into his infamous little pout.

“But-,” Liam starts, but Zayn holds up a hand to stop his rambling and cuts him off.

“For fuck’s sake, Liam, I feel gross and just want to feel clean and I don’t need your help for everything!” Zayn exclaims, his frustration clear in his voice. He frowns when he sees Liam deflate a little, and yeah, maybe he’s a little too hard on Liam, since the other boy has done nothing but help Zayn endlessly since the accident, but he can’t help but let his growing irritation out on the other boy. He hasn’t showered in days, and he can definitely feel it with the way his hair is matted to his forehead and his clothes are sticking to his lithe frame due to sweat, and he’s sure Liam can smell the odor emanating from him. All he wants is to shower in peace without feeling insecure about Liam seeing him naked after their recent intimacy.

“Oh, okay,” Liam says quietly, reaching behind him to open the bathroom door to leave Zayn be, and Zayn’s heart twists at the other boy’s obvious distress. He sighs, leaning up to place a reassuring kiss to Liam’s cheek and halting his movements so that he stays in the room.

“How about I just take a bath, instead, yeah?” Zayn asks, and it feels like a good compromise between the two, especially when Liam’s face lights back up and he’s reaching forward to give Zayn a happy little peck on the lips, elated that Zayn won’t be stressing his legs and back by standing for too long in the shower. Soon he’s helping Zayn fill up the bath with warm water and bubbles before Zayn is ushering him out of the door with pink cheeks so that he can strip and get into the warm water without flashing Liam.

 

 

 

.

 

 

Things don’t get easier at school now that they’ve found out who’s behind Bella’s fake death.

In fact, all it does is raise new questions.

Why did he do it?

Did he force Bella to commit suicide?

Were more people involved?

And most importantly,

“Where the hell are Ethan and Calum?” Liam hears someone mutter as he and Zayn walk through the school hallway the following Monday, hands just barely brushing against one another as they walk side-to-side. They look at each other briefly when their ears pick up the words, the students nothing short of questioning as the details of Ashton’s arrest became public within their small town over the weekend. He’s been asking himself the same questions, and it doesn’t help that students are constantly stopping him and asking him for any details he may know of since his dad is the sheriff. No one knows that he and his friends had access to the files and were really the ones to figure things out, as Mark and Geoff made it very clear that they could get in serious legal trouble for it, so he tells them all the same practiced words over and over.

“I don’t know anything more than you do,” he insists to almost everyone who has stopped him, even including his own Coach when he was asked about the missing statuses of two of his star players. He gets dubious looks from everyone, and he doesn’t blame them, the words sounding doubtful to his own ears, but he brushes it off in favor of walking in peace with Zayn to their first class.

 

“This is ridiculous,” Zayn mutters, coming to a stop outside of their first class of the day. Zayn offered to walk with the brown eyed boy to class in order to deter some people from hounding the boy with questions, but that proved futile when over ten people approached the two of them within the short three minute walk from the school’s entrance to their classroom on the second floor. Some even asked Zayn about his accident, word having spread quickly in their small town even though everyone did their best to keep things under wraps.

Liam just rolls his eyes at the pairs of eyes surrounding them and gives Zayn a small grateful smile, “Thank you. I know you didn’t have to show up to school today, but I’m glad you did.”

“I did it for you,” Zayn insists, hesitating for a moment before he wraps his arms around Liam in a firm, reassuring embrace that Liam feels immensely grateful for. Despite the two of them not leaving one another’s side all weekend, Liam still feels grateful for any form of contact with the other boy. Liam wraps his own arms around the smaller boy’s waist, careful of the other boy’s injuries, the bruises and cuts still littering Zayn’s face and arms though they’re almost fully healed, before he’s practically melting in the other boy’s arms.

“Let’s go inside,” Liam mutters, aware of the prying eyes of their classmates around them, before he’s pulling away from the amber eyed boy and ushering him into the classroom.

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

It’s at lunch when things turn—strange.

It’s their usual group, at their usual lunch table, sans Ashton and Cindy.

It’s awkward at first, recognizing that the lunch table feels oddly empty with just two people missing. Niall made it clear after an awkward silence between the five boys that Cindy was upset with him for accusing her of Bella’s murder, and for the time being their relationship was on a break, but he doesn’t foresee them mending any ties after the harsh words they exchanged during their last encounter. 

Things are also still a little sour between Liam and Louis, but for the most part their group of five is quiet.

Liam’s aware of the people sitting at the lunch tables surrounding them watching them carefully, and he’s sure the other four boys notice, as well. They’re careful not to bring up the cases just in case any one is eavesdropping, but they don’t talk much either, just talking nonsensibly about how their classes went or what they anticipate from soccer practice.

Liam also doesn’t miss the way Harry’s eyes flicker between he and Zayn’s intertwined hands before a small smile graces the curly haired boy’s face. And he definitely doesn’t miss the way Louis keeps leaning further into Harry’s space until the two are practically sitting in each other’s laps, and he can’t help but nudge Harry teasingly and smile himself.

So for the most part, lunch goes pretty smoothly, until Louis puts on a thoughtful face (which, if you ask Liam, is scary in and of itself) and speaks his thoughts out loud.

 

“I think we should make a play about everything that went down,” he declares, tapping his chin in thought. He looks at Harry for support, but is surprised by the look of shock on the green eyed boy’s face, and when he looks around at the table, he’s even more shocked to see that everyone else’s facial expressions mirror Harry’s.

Except for Liam, who is practically glaring at Louis as he places a protective arm around Zayn’s shoulders, muttering a “no fucking way” under his breath.

“Are you serious?” Niall asks through a mouthful of food, his eyebrows close to his hairline as he looks at Louis in shock.

“Well, why not?” Louis says, and with one look at his face Liam can tell the boy isn’t joking at all. “Who else can say they went through what we did and solved an entire murder mystery case? I could call up the scouts from my uni scholarships and ask for another chance.”

“He’s kinda got a point,” Harry says after a moment of silence, shrugging sheepishly under Liam and Zayn’s irritated glares. “What? It’d be a good play. Lots of people would show up,” he says defensively, looking pointedly at all of the people around them who are still staring.

“We are absolutely not going through this again,” Liam says firmly, protectively pulling Zayn further into his side, to which Louis rolls his eyes and nudges Liam with his foot placatingly. 

“What’s the worst that could happen, Liam? We’ve seen it all before at this point,” Louis says pointedly, raising an eyebrow at Liam.

“We’re not doing this,” he says firmly once again, keeping his voice low, mindful of the eyes and ears around them, “Not when a girl committed suicide at the last play and was hung up for a crowd of people to see. We’re not doing this.”

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

They end up doing it.

Because, as with all things in life, when Louis Tomlinson wants something, he gets it.

And Liam’s not too happy about that.

“I still don’t know why you wanted to do this so bad,” Liam says as he helps Zayn build the set in his driveway three days later, although it’s really him doing all of the building and painting while Zayn watches from his spot in the grass. Liam insisted that Zayn sit and rest since he’s still recovering from the accident, which Zayn wasn’t too happy about considering it’s been almost a week since he’s been discharged and he feels fine.

Also because Liam is shit at painting.

“That doesn’t even look good,” Zayn mutters, ignoring Liam’s statement as he critiques Liam’s shitty painting job, having already explained his reasoning multiple times to the other boy. Liam ignores him, tongue slipping past his lips in concentration as he tries to paint the wooden set a solid shade of dark blue, but instead of turning out smooth, the paint grabs onto the wood inconsistently and looks patchy. Zayn would find Liam’s determination incredibly adorable if his terrible painting job weren’t so cringey.

Sighing, he gets up from his spot on the grass and walks over to Liam, shoving the taller boy aside and snatching the paintbrush from him, ignoring Liam’s pout and “hey!” He instead covers the paintbrush with more paint and goes over Liam’s terrible paint job, ignoring Liam’s incessant claims that he needs to rest and not overwork himself.

When Liam’s words prove to be futile, as Zayn chooses to ignore him and continues painting over the wood, he tries to think of a different way to get the boy’s attention.

He wraps his arms around Zayn’s waist, the raven haired boy mindlessly melting back into Liam’s chest as he focuses on painting. Liam rests his face in the crook of Zayn’s neck, nipping the tan skin lightly in an attempt to rile Zayn up.

“I have some other wood that needs attention, too,” Liam settles on, his chest shaking as he bites back a smile and tries to hold in his laughter at Zayn’s sudden squawk. Zayn drops the paintbrush in his hands and turns around in Liam’s arms, slapping Liam’s chest when Liam finally bursts with laughter at Zayn’s reaction. Zayn tries to maintain his glare but fails after hearing Liam’s contagious laughter, a smile breaking its way through as his own chest starts to rumble with laughter.

Zayn smirks as an idea pops into his head, his hand reaching downward to cup at Liam’s crotch, earning him a sharp squawk as Liam’s laughter comes to an abrupt halt. He pats the area and looks up at Liam, “Doesn’t feel like much is there to me,” he teases.

He doesn’t expect what comes next, which is Liam practically throwing Zayn over his shoulder with an ease that makes blood rush to Zayn’s cheeks, before he’s leading them back into the house to his bedroom, their project long forgotten in Liam’s driveway, as he insists Zayn is to “finish what he’s started.”

But Zayn’s definitely not complaining, not when he’s coming an hour later, lips locked in a heated kiss with Liam as they grind against one another to reach their release.

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

The next day at school, Zayn spots almost every student huddled in groups and gossiping in hushed whispers, something that wasn’t a normal occurence at their school until after the most recent incidents came to light. He catches a few people staring at him as he walks to his locker, and he feels his heart pick up in his chest as he takes longer strides until he’s finally reached his destination. Unlike usual, Liam isn’t waiting for him at his locker, and for a moment he’s worried something is wrong until he hears a familiar voice call his name.

He turns around to be greeted by Harry, oddly without Louis in tow, which weirdly adds to his worries. It doesn’t help that Harry looks nervous himself as he walks up to Zayn, eyeing the hallway around them to make sure no one is listening before he drops his voice to a quiet whisper and asks, “Did you hear what happened last night?”

“No,” Zayn asks, keeping his own voice low, biting his bottom lip worriedly, “But I’m sure if you don’t tell me I’ll hear it from someone within the next few minutes,” he says, referring to the many people he’s seen gossiping this morning. Harry nods in understanding before he continues.

“They found them,” he says, rushing the words out in one quick breath, but Zayn manages to hear him perfectly. 

He raises an eyebrow, “Who? How do you know? When?” He asks, wondering if Liam’s and Louis’ lack of presence have anything to do with this new information considering their dads were working on the case.

Harry doesn’t respond, just motions for Zayn to follow him down the hall and away from any prying ears. They walk the familiar path to the choir room, which upon opening the door, Zayn is surprised to see Niall leaning against one of the walls in the room, arms crossed as he eyes the door with a relieved expression.

“About time,” he mutters, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. He looks like he hasn’t gotten much sleep, and Zayn doesn’t blame him. He’s been having a hard time resting as well after the injury, the experience still a little traumatizing, and paired with the mystery of figuring out where Jared, Ethan and Calum have all been, he hasn’t been able to get much sleep.

“Where are the others?” Zayn asks, facing Harry and Niall questioningly. He and Liam had agreed last night over the phone to meet up before class this morning, but he hasn’t heard from the other boy since.

“They’re at the station with their dads, though I’m not sure why,” Harry explains. “But apparently their dads need Ethan and Calum to testify against Ashton.”

“Jared’s been in town this whole time, apparently,” Niall adds, causing Zayn’s eyebrows to raise up to his hairline. “He was staying with a friend’s after he realized he was considered a suspect until we figured out it was really Ashton.”

Harry nods, “Apparently when Niall was asking him about whether or not he had any relations with Bella, and some people started talking about him being chosen goalie after Ethan’s disappearance, he caught on and didn’t know what to do so he stayed at a friend’s.”

“Wow,” Zayn mutters, “What about Ethan and Calum? Where have they been?”

Niall and Harry briefly look at one another before shrugging at Zayn simultaneously. “We’re not really sure,” Niall says, just as Harry adds, “We’re still waiting to hear from Louis and Liam on that one.”

“But why do they need to be at the station?” Zayn asks. “Do they have to testify, too?”

The two boys shrug again, both unsure themselves, and only adding to Zayn’s worry. The first bell of the day rings, signifying that class has started, and they all groan but neither of them move for a good minute, Zayn taking a moment to take in the information as his mind overflows with more and more questions.

Were Ethan and Calum related to the case at all?

Were they innocent and actually kidnapped?

 

Or were they guilty and just hiding?

 

He hopes the school day is a busy one that’ll keep him distracted, because he’s confident he won’t get his answers for a while.

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

Liam really, really, really regrets not getting his driver’s license.

Especially when he has no choice but to ride with Louis to school after they finish up at the station.

It’s been nothing but awkward between the two, since Liam has still been hesitant to trust the other boy after the night of the play. When Zayn’s present it’s a little bit easier, since Zayn has always been a bit better at not holding grudges. Liam, on the other hand, isn’t as laid back and forgiving as Zayn. He values loyalty more than anything, and having that betrayed by one of his own friends is still something he’s having trouble coming to terms with, and he’s not easily persuaded by Louis’ half-assed apologies. Zayn acts as a good mediator between the two boys whenever they’re in each other’s presence, but without him or Harry present to ease the tension, things are still awkward between the two of them. Louis is too stubborn to apologize, and Liam is too stubborn to forgive him blindly. It’s a hard sacrifice for them to both make.

“I can hear you strangling me in your head. Quite brutal, if I’m honest,” Louis says from the driver’s seat, his eyes briefly leaving the road to glance at Liam before he’s looking forward again, eyebrows furrowed as he concentrates on driving and talking at the same time. He’s never been one to multitask.

Liam rolls his eyes, choosing to bite his tongue in favor of ignoring Louis instead of retaliating. Louis, however, doesn’t like being ignored, something that hasn’t slipped Liam’s mind throughout the last 12 years of knowing him.

Louis looks at him briefly once again before sighing, visibly deflating a little in his seat. He pays attention to the road, and it’s quiet between them again until he speaks up just a few minutes later.

“So, you and Zayn, huh?”

Liam feels his cheeks redden a little at the mention of Zayn, but he doesn’t say anything until they’re at a red light and he catches Louis looking at him expectantly.

“You and Harry, huh?” He retaliates, the corner of his mouth tilting up into a smirk as he watches Louis’ own cheeks redden.

“I asked you first,” Louis declares, raising an eyebrow challengingly at Liam. 

“I asked you second,” Liam says, scoffing playfully, the grudge he’s been holding against Louis momentarily forgotten as he falls into the natural rhythm of their banter.

“I’m older than you,” Louis says, “Therefore you have to answer me first,” he declares, emphasizing the word ‘first.’

“Only by a couple months,” Liam points out, crossing his arms childishly to mimick Louis’ petulant look.

A car honks behind them suddenly, and Louis looks ahead of him in surprise to see that the previously red light has now turned green and there’s a long line of cars behind him waiting for him to hurry up and drive. He pushes his foot back onto the accelerator but briefly looks at Liam to give him a look that says they aren’t done with the conversation, and just like that Liam weirdly feels— content. Like he and Louis really can mend things after having gone down such a rocky road the past couple of weeks with one another. Like he can slowly begin to trust Louis again and turn to the other boy again for things. Maybe not all at once, but slowly. Afterall, if Louis can make an effort to fix things, and Zayn is happy with forgiving Louis and starting anew, why can’t he do the same? It’s only fair, he reassures himself, that he at least try to put in the same amount of effort, considering he himself was willing to blame Cindy, his own friend, of the incident.

 

By the time they eventually get to their school, lunch is almost over, so instead of heading to their usual lunch table where he’s sure everyone is anticipating their arrival to talk about their findings, they head to their respective lockers and get ready to head to their next classes of the day. Louis has a couple classes with Harry after lunch, so he’s sure the blue eyed boy will catch him (and therefore by association, Niall) up to speed, but Liam won’t get to see Zayn in any of his next classes. He sends a quick text to the amber eyed boy asking for a ride after school and to meet up at one of their places (Liam would rather go to Zayn’s, since no one is usually home for another few hours after their classes end, but Liam’s barely stepped foot into his own home within the last week and he’s sure his parents aren’t too happy about that), before he’s grabbing his stuff and heading to his next class.

 

 

 

.

 

 

Zayn crosses his arms over his chest as he paces back and forth throughout his bedroom. Liam rubs at his eyes, taking a seat on the warm bed as he rests for the first time that day. He normally loves getting up early, but waking up two hours before his alarm was set to go off to head to the station and be confronted with so much information wasn’t his ideal way to start his day. Now, having finally relayed the information to Zayn, he can finally let his mind rest and let his boyfriend do the thinking.

 _Boyfriend_ , he thinks. 

He looks over at Zayn, who’s long dark hair is ruffled as he runs a hand through the strands and furrows his brows in thought, bringing his plump bottom lip between his teeth nervously.

Liam smiles. He quite likes the sound of that.

Jared was released just hours before Liam and Louis left the station, having been proven innocent, but Ethan and Calum were still being questioned at the station. Their statements were different and they constantly contradicted themselves, Ethan saying he just needed to leave town to get some space, then said an anonymous person forced him to leave town. Calum’s claims were similar, saying he didn’t remember much of what happened over the past few weeks but then saying he was threatened and beat up, though there was no trace of injury or trauma. It was a confusing few hours for everyone involved at the station as they tried to figure out the truth to their statements, Ashton refusing to say anything after having already pleaded guilty for framing Bella’s death, so things were still somewhat a mystery.

Zayn notices Liam’s smile and looks at him, even more puzzled, “Are you seriously smiling right now? This is serious, Leeyum!” He drags Liam’s name out until it sounds like a long drawl, and Liam smiles even further and makes grabby hands at him until Zayn is slowly walking towards him. Liam pulls Zayn even closer to him by the waist, until Zayn is standing in the V of his legs, blushing at their proximity, still getting used to the new intimacy between them. Before, the two hesitated to be too touchy with one another, afraid of ruining their good friendship, but now that things have changed between them it’s hard to fight off the instinct of keeping to themselves. 

Liam wraps his arms around Zayn’s frame, snuggling his face into the smaller boy’s chest until Zayn giggles at the feeling of Liam’s nose poking into his sternum. He brings a hand up to run through the growing hairs on Liam’s head, the strands still shorter than Zayn’s but long enough that they’re the perfect length for Zayn to tug at and play with. “What’s got you all happy, hm?” Zayn mutters, Liam giggling at the feeling of the vibrations of Zayn’s chest against his cheek.

“My smart boyfriend probably has this all figured out already,” Liam says. Zayn’s heart starts racing as a smile find its way to his own face.

“Boyfriend?” He asks quietly, and Liam doesn’t have to look up to know he’s smiling widely. They haven’t put a label on things, just content with being them, but saying the word out loud makes him feel giddy. Liam hugs him tighter and nods into Zayn’s chest, and before he knows it theres a sudden heavy weight crashing into him until he’s flat on his back on the bed, still holding Zayn tightly to himself until the other boy is hovering over him, straddling his legs as he envelops Liam’s lips with his.

“My boyfriend,” Liam mutters into the kiss, smoothing his hands over the backs of Zayn’s thighs, their lips molding together softly. Zayn melts into the touch, running his tongue along Liam’s bottom lip as the brown haired boy underneath him brings his hands up Zayn’s thighs until they’re perched on his bum, digging his nails softly into the flesh. Zayn gasps into the kiss, allowing Liam to slip his tongue past his lips, before pulling away.

Zayn practically whines at the loss of Liam’s lips against his, but Liam continues to dig his fingers into the boy’s skin as he presses swift kisses along the boy’s jawline and down his neck, biting and sucking gently at the tan skin. Zayn digs his fingers into Liam’s shoulders to anchor himself as he tilts his chin towards the ceiling to give the other boy more access to the skin.

“Nowhere that my parents can see,” he huffs out as he feels Liam suck on a patch of skin right beneath his jawline. He doesn’t get a response, but he can feel Liam smirk against his skin and the other boy makes no effort to move his lips from where they’re attached to the sensitive skin of Zayn’s neck. He leaves a few more marks as he trails his hands up Zayn’s back and under his shirt, a few on his shoulders and one right behind Zayn’s ear which has him squirming in Liam’s lap at the tenderness.

Liam eventually pulls away to admire a particular mark he’s left on Zayn’s skin right above the neckline of his shirt, the skin already bruising to a reddish purple color, before he smirks up at Zayn teasingly, “So you gonna tell me what you think of the case?”

Zayn blinks his eyes open at the loss of Liam’s lips against his skin, registering a second too late that Liam was speaking to him. “Now?” He asks, his voice laced heavily with lust as he struggles to focus on what Liam has said. His brow furrows adorably and Liam kisses the pout off of his lips.

“Yes now,” Liam says, kissing gently over the now-bruised skin of Zayn’s neck and shoulders. Zayn huffs in confusion, rotating his hips slowly in Liam’s lap to gain some friction before he stills, making Liam bite back a groan at the feeling.

“But there’s so many better things to do,” Zayn says, bottom lip once again jutted out in a pout as he practically whines at the loss of touch.

“Like what?” Liam asks with a quirk of his lips, brow raised questioningly. Zayn huffs at the teasing, his heart practically pounding in his chest. Liam knows damn well what. “Leeyum.”

“What do you want love?” Liam hums as he places a gentle kiss to the column of Zayn’s neck before pulling back to eye the other boy with a sturdy gaze. Zayn squirms against the heavy gaze, unconsciously rubbing his crotch against Liam’s and making them both groan. Liam’s eyes having darkened significantly from their usual golden shade of brown, making Zayn squirm even more under the intensity of his gaze.

It’s not like they haven’t been intimate with one another, the two more than happy to explore one another’s bodies over the past week since their confessions in Zayn’s hospital bed all those nights ago, but they’ve never gone farther than this. Nothing more than just heated kisses that last for hours while they grind against one another to relieve tension, save for a handjob every now and then. It’s different when they’re in bed, much different, because Zayn has always been the easygoing one of the two, always more laid back and willing to take his time with things. He’s always been the one to keep Liam grounded, while Liam is more eager to do things and always energetic. When they’re intimate, however, Liam enjoys taking his time, loves watching Zayn fall apart with just a few touches and kisses, loves seeing the normally calm and collected boy practically squirming in his lap. He challenges Zayn, takes charge and pushes the boy’s limits, and Zayn lets himself melt and fall apart at the hands of the boy he loves.

“Want you,” he says, leaning forward to rest his forehead against Liam’s, hoping Liam can see the truth in his eyes and understand what he means.

“Yeah? You’ve already got me,” Liam hums, reaching up with his right hand to tug at Zayn’s lower lip with his index finger and thumb. Zayn gently takes Liam’s index finger between his lips, sucking softly on the digit as he watches Liam’s eyes darken significantly as he doesn’t break his gaze from Zayn’s lips, before he’s pulling back to look at Liam in exasperation.

“Not— Not what I meant,” Zayn huffs, circling his hips against Liam’s once again to relieve some of the tension thats building up and hoping to distract Liam in the process, but Liam just grabs his hips and steadies him, placing a firm kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“Yeah, like what then?” Liam says, and Zayn can hear the teasing lilt of his voice and he groans loudly in frustration.

“If you don’t hurry up and fuck me I’m not helping any of you with this case, so help me God, Liam-,” he’s cut off by Liam’s lips pressing roughly against his own, successfully getting him to shut up and ending his rant as he melts into the feeling of Liam’s lips pressed against his own. He barely registers that Liam is moving them until he feels his back hit the mattress, head falling gently onto the single pillow he has on his bed, and Liam pressed up against his front. He feels Liam tug at his shirt and he reaches his arms up to help Liam take it off of him, their lips separating briefly so that the garment of clothing can come off before they’re pressed back against one another. 

He feels Liam pull away eventually, and he almost whines until he looks up and sees the seriousness in Liam’s gaze.

“Have you ever done this with anyone?” Liam asks hesitantly, running his arms against the sides of Zayn’s waist gently.

Zayn bites his lip nervously, shaking his head, “No, have you?”

His heart clenches slightly in his chest as he waits to hear the answer, but it eases when Liam chuckles and shakes his head no, smiling adorably as he leans forward to peck Zayn’s lips once, twice, three times before pulling away, unexplainably happy that he and Zayn get to share this first together.

Zayn’s heart flutters in his chest, half from adoration and half from the nerves settling in about what they’re actually about to do. He helps Liam shed them of their clothing and takes a good moment to appreciate Liam’s toned physique. Zayn has always admire Liam’s body, never having been able to put much weight on himself, but Liam has always managed to look lean and toned without much effort. Now that Liam has been taking his appearance more seriously with soccer and trying to get into college on a scholar athlete scholarship, his body looks more amazing than Zayn’s ever seen it.

“I don’t have a condom,” Liam says sheepishly as he finally rids himself and Zayn of their boxers, taking a moment to rake his eyes over the other boy’s lithe frame. Zayn briefly admires the length and girth of Liam’s cock, standing erect between the boy’s legs, before he’s blushing sheepishly and motioning his head to the nightstand next to his bed. Liam opens the only drawer to find a box of condoms and some lube tucked behind some random items. He eyes Zayn questioningly, giggling at the absurdity. Zayn bites his lip and blushes even further.

“What, thought I wouldn’t be prepared with a fit boyfriend like you?” Zayn says, the word ‘boyfriend’ still making him feel giddy and excited once again. Liam rolls his eyes but doesn’t fight the smile that makes its way to his face, grabbing a condom from the pack and lube before he’s moving down the bed and in between Zayn’s propped legs.

“You ready?” He asks hesitantly, not quite sure how to start. Zayn bites his lip, moving up the bed a little further so that he’s propped slightly against the headboard and brings his knees closer to his chest, feeling oddly shy at how exposed he is. His hand is resting palm-up next to him on the bed, and Liam reaches forward with his left hand to grip it firmly, waiting for Zayn’s nod of assurance before he’s letting go and lubing up his fingers to stretch Zayn open.

He circles the finger around Zayn’s rim, waiting to hear the hitch in Zayn’s breathing before pressing it in slowly, careful not to move too fast. The first finger feels—weird is the best way he can describe it. It’s not pleasant but it’s not bad either, it’s just there, unmoving as Liam waits for him to relax a little before slowly moving the digit in and out. Zayn tries to steady his breathing as he moves around a little on the bed, trying to get comfortable and finally relaxing a little when Liam adds a second finger.

He hisses at the stretch, making Liam pause with concern. He shakes his head at Liam’s worried expression, reaching out to grasp Liam’s free hand again with his own for a little bit of reassurance as he tries to relax at the sudden stretch of Liam’s fingers. When Liam finally feels Zayn relax around his fingers again, he starts to move them again slowly, eyes watching Zayn’s face carefully for any signs of distress as he spreads and curls his fingers.

He curls his fingers upward and pauses when he hears Zayn suddenly gasp, but the look on Zayn’s face reflects anything but pain, his mouth curved into a soft “o” shape as his back arches slightly off of the mattress, hips moving back onto Liam’s fingers subconsciously. Liam bites at his lip and resumes the motion, fingers continuously pressing against the bundle of nerves inside him. Zayn bites down on his bottom lip to try and stay quiet, but Liam is having none of that as he leans forward and takes Zayn’s bottom lip between his own, tugging gently with his teeth.

“None of that,” he mutters, resting his forhead firmly against Zayn’s, “wanna hear you.”

Zayn’s eyes close at the intensity of Liam’s gaze and the pleasurable feeling he’s experiencing, but he opens them back up a second later when Liam starts moving his fingers in circles around the prostate, alternating between massaging the area and moving his fingers from side to side, sending a wave of precum out of his neglected cock.

He gasps when he feels a third finger rubbing against his rim, biting his lip as he braces himself before Liam is slowly pressing the third digit in alongside the other two, stretching his fingers out and wide. The burning sensation makes Zayn moan, resting his head back against the pillow. Liam’s brow furrows in concentration as he tries to stretch Zayn until he’s pleased with how loose he is, making sure to hit his prostate every now and then, and Zayn whines—fucking whines— when he feels Liam slowly start to pull his fingers out.

“What?” Zayn asks, slightly dazed as he leans up on his elbows to see why Liam has pulled out of him and stepped back. When he sees Liam rolling on the condom, giving himself a few tugs before he’s lubing himself up and positioning himself back between Zayn’s legs, Zayn practically moans and lays back down in anticipation.

“You ready?” Liam asks gently, his hand slowly finding it’s way back to Zayn’s to intertwine their fingers once again. Liam lifts Zayn’s leg and props it over his shoulder, kissing his ankle gently before positioning himself at Zayn’s hole. Zayn groans at the feeling of the head of Liam’s cock pressed to his hole. Zayn can’t bring himself to respond, just nods and begs Liam to “hurry up, please,” and before he knows it, Liam is pushing in, agonizingly slow so he can give Zayn time to adjust to his size. 

“Just try and relax,” he tells Zayn, placing a chaste kiss to the boy’s shoulder as he slides into the tight heat. Zayn’s eyebrow furrows adorably in concentration and Liam reaches up to peck his lips as he bottoms out and waits for Zayn to adjust, the tight feeling around his cock feeling extremely pleasurable. He rubs the hand that’s still gripping Zayn’s leg down until it’s gripping the boy’s thigh, digging his nails into the skin to keep himself from just letting go and fucking into the other boy without mercy.

He bites at one of the marks he left on Zayn’s shoulder earlier when he feels Zayn start to grind his hips in slow but abrupt circles against Liam’s, ushering for him to start moving. Liam, not needing to be told twice, grips Zayn’s thigh tightly as he slowly pulls back and slams back ino Zayn, making the boy gasp at the sudden sensation against his prostate. He slowly starts to pick up the pace, sliding out more and more and pushing back in harder each time, until the two of them are moving in a steady pace, the head of Liam’s cock occasionally catching on Zayn’s rim. For the most part it’s slow, the two of them preferring to take their time in dragging out the sensation instead of going hard and fast, it being their first time being so intimate together (or with anyone, really).

It doesn’t take long for them to both come, Zayn first when Liam’s hand comes up to wrap around his neglected cock, getting in a few tugs before Zayn is coming against both of their chests. Liam follows not long after, biting down on Zayn’s shoulder gently as he releases inside of the condom, Zayn’s hole still fluttering around his cock as they come down from their highs together.

Liam is careful not to crush Zayn with his weight, waiting until after they’ve both come down to pull out of Zayn, tying off the condom and throwing it in the bin next to Zayn’s bed before he’s laying beside Zayn. They’re both breathing heavily as he wraps an arm around Zayn’s waist to pull him into his side, mindful of the mess on Zayn’s chest. He reaches for Zayn’s shirt from where it was thrown onto the floor earlier, ignoring Zayn’s half-hearted glare as he uses the shirt to clean the cum off of the boy (“I’d use my shirt but at least you can clean yours! I need to wear mine home and I can’t do that if it’s dirty with cum stains.” “You could have just worn one of my shirts home, Liam.” “As if they’d even fit.” “Fair.”), before pressing a chaste kiss to the boy’s lips. Zayn hums happily, snuggling into Liam’s warm body while Liam lifts the blanket at the end of the bed over their bodies.

“Was it good?” Liam asks after a while, a little hesitant to ask the question but nevertheless curious. Zayn blinks up at him from where he was close to dozing off, looking at Liam in confusion. Realization seems to dawn on the boy’s face as he leans up to wrap his hand around the back of Liam’s neck to pull the boy down for a kiss, which Liam reciprocates happily, before he’s pulling away and resting their foreheads together.

“Of course,” Zayn breathes, and Liam believes him just from the amount of conviction in his voice. 

A glance at the clock on the nightstand tells Liam they still have about an hour before any of Zayn’s other family members come home, with both of his parents still at work, Doniya off at college for the semester and Waliyha and Saf having stayed after school for dance. He’s in no rush to leave just yet, instead pulling Zayn even closer to himself and breathing in the other’s calming scent, the two of them just enjoying one another’s company.

“To answer your question,” he hears Zayn say a few minutes later, the other boy absent-mindedly drawing random shapes on Liam’s bare chest, “I don’t think they’re innocent. I don’t think they were kidnapped by Ashton like we thought, nor do I think they were responsible for anything, but I definitely think they knew about what happened to Bella and were probably threatened not to say anything, or somehow helped Ashton hide what happened.”

Liam hums thoughtfully as he processes Zayn’s words, “You think so?” He asks. It doesn’t sound far off, considering the contradictory statements both Calum and Ethan gave down at the station according to his dad. It wouldn’t surprise him after Bella’s death turned out to actually be a suicide instead of a murder, that their disappearances weren’t a kidnapping, but rather them hiding guiltily. And perhaps Ashton’s silence was his way of protecting the other two boys from being further involved.

Unless they really were threatened by him to stay silent, and admitting to that would incriminate him even further.

He can tell Zayn comes to the same conclusion at the same time when they both make eye contact, eyes wide and practically speaking over each other as they share their thoughts.

 

And when he gets home that afternoon, Liam doesn’t even have to relay his and Zayn’s theory to his dad, because the first thing Geoff tells him when he gets home from work is how Ashton finally confessed to having threatened Ethan and Calum to keep quiet about the incident to Bella.

It turns out the two were innocent. In fact, after some more questioning, Geoff discovered that Ethan and Calum were the ones who originally discovered Bella dead in her makeshift dressing room the night of the play. Not knowing what to do, and not wanting to be accused of anything, they immediately told Ashton, who was the first person they found and trusted to tell, who promised he would take care of things and ushered Calum and Ethan to leave the room.

However, after word broke out about what happened at Louis’ play, Ethan and Calum both respectively confronted Ashton about it, and Ashton threatened the two to keep quiet or they’d “be next,” hence why they were hesitant to share anything for the first few hours of being questioned at the station, until they were assured that Ashton would be facing a trial and wouldn’t be able to harm them. They were right about Ashton’s motive. It turns out the boy wanted to frame Jared all along, but why he chose to do it at Louis’ anticipated play was simply circumstantial.

Liam is quick to relay the information to Zayn and then Louis, Harry and Niall, wanting them all to know they can finally rest easy about the case now that everything has been solved.

 

And for the first time in a long time, he falls asleep easily, a small smile resting on his lips as he dreams peacefully that night.

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

The play turns out to be a success.

People were hesitant to show up, especially after the first play ended so traumatizingly, but once they discovered that Louis’ play was about the town’s recent cases and not just an overly romanticized Shakespearean play, the curious individuals were more than eager to fill up the auditorium the upcoming Friday night.

And if anyone thought Louis was overly critical the first time around, he was an absolute menace come the second play, making sure everything was absolutely perfect. He checked the set of the play at least twenty times within the hour before they were set to perform, reasonably so after what happened the first time. He made sure all of the actors were in place, having originally wanted the other four boys to play the main characters, since it was only fitting, but after discovering Zayn and Liam were terrible at acting (and also incredibly unenthusiastic about having to perform in front of other people, which just wouldn’t do), he settled on banishing them to set design and tech managing. That left just Harry and Niall in the play, and he recruited a couple of juniors and a sophomore to play he, Liam and Zayn. He had even asked Cindy to perform, but she understandably (and rudely) declined, understandably not wanting anything to do with the five boys, despite them all apologizing immensely.

Zayn and Liam were settled in the tech booth, more occupied by one another than by the play they had seen be rehearsed multiple times already within the past week. The crowd was loving it, which wasn’t surprising, considering everyone in their small town loved to gossip, and this play would be the center of their conversation for weeks to come. The play started with Louis welcoming everyone and having a brief moment of silence for Bella, finding it only right to honor her after what happened at his last play. He apologized for the trauma the scene may have caused, though no one blamed him considering it wasn’t his fault how things went. Then the play started, walking the audience through the last few weeks of their lives.

It was all put together incredibly, Liam and Zayn going out of their way with the set design to create multiple artistic backgrounds and include a variety of props, Harry and Niall training everyone to read the script Louis spent weeks finalizing properly, and Louis making sure everything was running smoothly and living up to his vision. The acting was incredible, the set design was impeccable, and the actual plot was very interesting, keeping the audience well entertained. It seemed nothing like an amateur play put together by a few high school students, and its originality made it a much better of a play than what Louis put together the first time around, something Liam knew Louis’ scholarship scouts would definitely notice and appreciate. They had been kind enough to give Louis a second shot at proving himself worthy of their theater program (mostly due to Harry reaching out and explaining that the incidents that occured at the previous play were none of Louis’ doings and were far out of his control, and practically begging them to give the boy another shot, but Liam promised he wouldn’t tell anyone what Harry had secretly done for Louis).

 

They go out to celebrate after the play ends, long after the audience has cleared out of the auditorium and Louis’ scholarship scouts promised to be in touch with him soon, the five of them still running on adrenaline even after they’ve spent an hour cleaning up the school auditorium. They head to the nearest dine-in fast food chain that’s opened 24 hours, the five of them incredibly giddy and happy at the play’s success. They talk over one another as they share their thoughts that evening, and Liam’s eyes meet Zayn’s from across the table as Harry recalls a funny incident that happened backstage before the play. He reaches forward to interlace his hand with where Zayn’s is resting on the table as they wait for their food to arrive, and Zayn smiles briefly before the other three boys turn their attention towards the couple and start gagging teasingly at them, making both Liam and Zayn blush sheepishly.

It’s all bittersweet, Liam thinks, how close the five boys have become despite such a traumatizing and saddening incident occupying their lives the past couple of months. But as he sits with them for the next few hours, he can’t help but bask in the joy and love shared between them as they talk on about anything and everything, just enjoying each other’s company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

fin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read this fic and left kudos/comments. I really hope you loved it and as always I love to hear your feedback!


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